Farming was an important and crucial part of medieval life. The success or failure of a harvest could mean the difference between prosperity and starvation.
The Medieval Farming Year
Medieval farming was heavily controlled by the weather and the success or failure of crops would depend on the temperature and the amount of rain for that year. Most people in medieval society had close connections to the countryside and to farming. Whilst shops and markets existed throughout this period, many people were reliant on the food they grew for themselves, and on the money they could make from selling produce to others.
Spring was a time of preparing the land for the year ahead. Decisions were made on what crops to grow and seeds were sown. The land was ploughed, fertilized and weeded, to ensure an optimum growing ground for important foodstuffs.
Hay was made in early summer. This was a foodstuff for animals and the more hay that was harvested, the more animals could be kept through the winter, either for sale or as a supply of meat. The summer months could actually be the hardest for farming communities, as it was a long time since the previous year’s harvest and food supplies were almost exhausted, despite there being so much fruit almost ready to pick.
Harvest time was August and September and the whole community was involved in the harvest. The emphasis was on gathering as many of the crops as possible before the weather turned cold. Even very young children were involved with tasks such as frightening birds off the ripe fruits.
Autumn was the foraging season, when acorns were gathered to feed farm animals through the winter and late fruits collected to supplement the family’s diet. Meat was salted and stocks of firewood collected before the winter weather drew in.
Shorter winter days really did curtail activities and it was important to make the most of any good weather, to prepare for the hard winter months ahead. Winter work included mending fences and barns and spinning wool indoors.
The Medieval Peasant
Many medieval people didn’t actually own the land which they farmed, it belonged to their lord of the manor. A peasant would pay rent to his lord and was sometimes required to forfeit some of his harvest as part of a rent payment. Many peasants were expected to work the lord’s land for a certain number of days a week.
Peasants also paid a tithe, which was a tenth of their income or produce, to the parish church. In times of hardship, the church would have amassed stocks of grain with which they could feed starving villagers.
Strip Farming and the Rotation System
Strip farming is a characteristic aspect of medieval farming. Each worker farmed several strips of land, often scattered over several different fields, which he worked alongside the strips of his neighbor. The system ensured that the good and bad land was shared out fairly.
Strip farming also encouraged the community to work together for the more difficult and labor-heavy tasks. A plough was pulled by horses or oxen and the job of ploughing was shared between a whole village, with everyone paying shares in buying or renting a plough and its crew of animals.
The medieval era was the age of rotation farming, where one field was sown with wheat, another with oats or rye and a third left to rest. The next year, the second field was sown with wheat, the third with oats or rye and the first left to rest, with the pattern rotating each year. Because the soil was rested every third year, it never became overworked. The areas outside the farmed fields were usually common pasture, where anyone could allow his livestock to roam.
A community that worked together successfully could produce extra goods, which could be sold on at market. Flax, hemp, fruit, vegetables, honey and eggs were all items which could be sold. The farming year was hard and changed little from year to year. It was broken only by feasts and festivals, when villagers could have a little respite from manual labor and focus on their family and neighbors instead.
Source
Lacey, Robert & Danziger, Danny. The Year 1000 [Little Brown and Company, 1999]
