Are you talking about peasants or serfs? The difference between a peasant and a serf: serfs were bound to the land and the land's Lord, which limited their ability to pick up stakes and move, but peasants weren't. read more
The difference between a peasant and a serf: serfs were bound to the land and the land's Lord, which limited their ability to pick up stakes and move, but peasants weren't. Noble lords tended to despise peasants, especially as they began to get richer and upgraded their lives. read more
Freemen, however, still had to pay rent for the small plots of land that they used. Serfs, or villeins, made up the majority of peasants. Owned by the lords, serfs worked long hours, mostly in performing laborious tasks and harvesting crops. The third group of peasants, cottars, did not work in the fields. read more
Peasant life in the Middle Ages was noticeably difficult. Families and entire villages were exposed to disease, war and generally a life of poverty. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, most people across Europe were peasants or “velleins” who worked in the vast stretches of lands owned by the local lords. read more