Thanks for asking!
Life was laborious for peasants of medieval times. The simple
mechanics of survival decreed a life of hard work, poverty, and for
most of Western Europe, piety. The common folk rose with the sun and
labored until dark. Food was simple, without great variety or
abundance, consisting primarily of vegetables. Possessions were
scarce, a man owning little more than his clothing, a knife for
cooking and eating, a few simple tools, rudimentary furniture, and
cooking utensils. Clothing was coarse, home woven, roughly sewn, and
worn until it literally fell apart. Peasants lived in simple huts,
constructed of wood, stone, branches, mud brick, or any other material
that could be found and put to use. They labored mostly at
agricultural occupations, for low or no wages, belonging to the land,
or manor. A portion of their labor was tithed to the church.
Entertainment was rare, but varied from jousting tournaments, to pubs,
to public courts, punishments, and religious festivals. Mortality was
high, two-thirds of children dying before their tenth birthday. Those
surviving into adulthood knew no doctors, dentists, and few medicines.
The following resources link directly to descriptions of peasant life
in Medieval Europe, as well as descriptions of entertainment, food and
cookery, clothing and housing. I have selected "general reference"
sites, for the most part. Should you require more scholarly academic
sources, please let me know.
Medieval Life
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The Medieval Child
http://orb.rhodes.edu/non_spec/missteps/Ch6.html
Medieval Life: Squires, Maidens and Peasants
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1986/3/86.03.03.x.html
(Scroll approximately halfway down the page to the heading: The Manor,
Part 3)
From History House - an irreverent history magazine, comes a
description of the worst of medieval peasant life and times. Despite
it's somewhat fiesty nature, this site has received awards from more
staid educational sites such as the History Channel and Learn.co.uk.
A Day in the Life of a Peasant
http://www.historyhouse.com/in_history/peasant/
Learner.org presents a medieval informational site entitled "The
Middle Ages". It covered topics include medieval food, entertainment,
homes, and manor life.
The Middle Ages - Feudal Life
Learner.org
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/
Tales of the Middle Ages - True stories, fables and anecdotes from the
Middle Ages
http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales08.htm
Wharram Percy - A Lost Medieval Village
http://loki.stockton.edu/~ken/wharram/begin.htm
Medieval Fiefdom from the Thinkquest Library offers reports on a
number of medieval topics, including buildings (housing), work, life,
and entertainment. The medium bandwidth option offers the greatest
number of topic selections.
Medieval Fiefdom
http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/?tqskip1=1&tqtime=1027
Life During the Middle Ages
http://www.medieval-life.net/life_main.htm
The Medieval Child - Childbirth, Childhood and Adolescence in the
Middle Ages
http://historymedren.about.com/library/weekly/blchildtoc.htm
The Lifestyle of the Medieval Peasant
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_peasants.htm
Medieval Clothing
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Medieval Clothing and Fabrics
http://historymedren.about.com/cs/clothingandfabric/
Reenactment Clothing
http://historymedren.about.com/cs/reenactmentcloth/
Medieval Clothing
http://www.medieval-life.net/clothing.htm
Medieval Entertainment and Leisure
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Medieval Games and Pastimes
http://historymedren.about.com/cs/gamesandpastimes/
Medieval Games and Recreation
http://www.medieval-life.net/games.htm
Medieval Food
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Medieval Food, Fact and Fantasy
http://home.earthlink.net/~mkcooks/RenaissancedayinLeipsic.htm
A Boke of Gode Cookery
http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm
Medieval Food
http://www.medieval-life.net/food.htm
Illustrations and Medieval Clipart
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Illustrations and Medieval Clipart
http://www.msu.edu/~georgem1/history/medieval.htm#images
http://www.nwlink.com/~badger/clipart.html
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/medieval_clipart.htm
http://www.castletrash.com/medieval/medieval.htm
Literature
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I'd also like to recommend two books to you - the books that
originally sparked my interest in medieval history.
The Canterbury Tales by Gregory Chaucer
http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
http://www.ken-follett.com/bibliography/pillars.html
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Google Search Terms
"medieval europe" "daily life" "peasant OR serf"
medieval peasant food OR clothing OR entertainment OR work OR house OR
games
medieval history
Should you have any questions about the material or sources provided,
please, feel free to ask.
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