LIFE OF A SERF PART 2

1. LIFE OF A SERF PART 2

2. HEALTH AND SICKNESS

3. Medieval Medicine • Medieval people knew very little about medicine • Was based on folklore and superstition, not science • Did not understand about dirt and germs • Serfs swam but did not bathe • Bodies were crawling with lice and fleas • If a serf broke a bone they were lucky if it healed straight • Cuts would get infected

6. Cures • Often did more harm than good • Leeches were used to suck out a patients blood • A hot plaster of honey and pigeon’s dung was a recommended treatment for bad kidneys • Lemon balm was seen as a magic elixir that could cure serious illness • Feverfew was used for headaches and childbirth

10. Doctors • There were no real doctors • Operations were often carried out by “barber surgeons”, men whose main job was as a barber • Patients were knocked out by a big dose of wine, juice from opium poppies, or other strong drugs

12. Plague • Every now and then a serious disease, like typhoid, would sweep through a village, killing many people • The worst plague came in 1348, the Black Death, or Bubonic Plague • Almost half the people in Europe were killed • People felt pains in their chest and black lumps would form on their bodies • They died in three days • The village of Sladen was completely wiped out by this plague

14. A SERF’S HOUSE

15. A serf’s cottage usually had two rooms, one for people, the other for animals • What the cottage was made of depended on where the serf lived. In the north of England the houses were made of stone. In the south, they were made of mud and sticks • The mud huts were of “wattle and daub” construction, meaning they were made of woven strips of wood covered with a mixture of dung, straw, and clay • The houses were VERY small. On average about 5m square

16. They were so small that in 1426, a man named William Found ran away from his manor carrying his house on his back • There was a stone hearth in the centre of the cottage with no chimney • It was used for warmth and cooking • Because it had no chimney the rooms would have been very smoky and dark • There was also a layer of soot on the walls about 3cm thick

17. SERFS AT WORK

18. A serf was not free to do what he wanted • Always had to farm his lord’s land before his own • Had to grind his grain in the lord’s mill • The lord of the manor’s farm was called the demesne and a serf had to work there 2 – 3 days a week • A bailiff (employee of the lord) made sure the serfs did their work properly

19. All who were old enough had to work • Women made ale and bread, and looked after the chickens, goats and cows • Children watched over the sheep and pigs on the common and and tried to catch fish and birds to eat, there was no school • Everyone helped in the fields at harvest time • Men cut the grain, women and children tied it in bundles called sheaves • This was long hard work that lasted while there was daylight to work by

21. In winter, life was very different • There was little work to do in the fields • The poor could not afford candles • People had to stay indoors, huddled around their fires, with their livestock to keep warm from sunset to sunrise • In northern England some nights last up to 16 hours

22. THE SUMMER MONTHS

23. March and April • Field were ploughed and planted as soon as the ground was soft enough

26. May • Inspection of beehives • Honey provided sweetness • Sugar was a luxury of the rich

28. June • Hay was cut and dried in good weather • This would be feed for the animals over the winter

31. July • Harvesting wheat • Everyone joined in the harvest • If the harvest failed people would starve

33. August • Threshing of the wheat using flails • This separated the grains from the husks • The grains were then taken to the mill to be crushed into flour • The flour was then taken to the bake house to be made into bread

35. WHAT SERFS WORE

36. Men • Men wore a long woolly shirt, called a kirtle, which came down to their knees • Underneath they might have a linen shirt • In the winter they wrapped scarves around their heads • Probably had a leather jacket for winter

38. Women • Women wore long gowns which came down to the ground • Underneath they might wear a shirt • All women covered their heads with hoods • They might have a pretty belt to go with their best gown

40. Both • Clothes were not washed often • There were no undergarments • They slept in their dirty kirtles and gowns • They wore wool stockings also

41. Shoes • Made of leather and wood • In 1350, they cost 6 pence a pair, this was very expensive • A shepherd earned ten pence a month • When a serf needed money he would sell some wool or food or send his wife or children off to work

42. Plain Clothes • Clothes were homemade • Women spent much time spinning wool into thread to make into clothes • Sheepskin cloaks were worn in winter to keep out cold and rain • Outer clothes were never washed but shirts made of linen were washed regularly • Wooden pattens were worn over leather boots in muddy conditions • People’s clothes smelled of smoke so they didn’t really smell bad