Medieval Villages are not places where someone would want to stay. The punishments are awful, the houses are not luxurious, the farms were not as advanced, the sanitation was not proper, women were treated unfairly, the clothes could be uncomfortable judging by religion, houses costed a lot, entertainment was not as fun, and the jobs were much harder. This essay will describe a medieval village, although it may not be as accurate.
The peasants were poor farmers, and therefore could not afford a nice fancy house like the ones of today. The walls were made of cow dung, imagine touching it, and thinking it is cement or concrete, and finding out it is cow dung, only it is dry. As well, the roofs were made of hay, and therefore were not as protective as the roofs of today as there were more holes, and not as strong, even with the wooden support. The insides were small, and there was only one room. There was only one room to sleep in, eat in, and sit in.
The punishments for committing crimes varied between torture and execution. The “Scavenger’s Daughter” is opposite to “The Stretcher”, in the stretcher the victim gets pulled until ripped apart, but in the scavenger’s daughter, they get crushed. There was an execution where you were put in a box of needle, and only the bottom was opened, the executioner, was a goat. A goat was brought to lick the victim’s feet until he/she was laughing hard enough to get impaled. Sometimes they were as unfortunate as the goat to bite instead. Please understand there were more and worse punishments/executions.
The sanitation was awful. Another not so fun fact is that the peasants only showered once a year. They only showered once a year because they believed that the more dirty they were, the less likely they were to become sick. They used to go to a lake in order to take a shower, so you can imagine after only showering once a year, the lakes were quite dirty.
Women were not treated as fairly as men back in the medieval ages. An example is when women go to work; they get paid less than men. Even if they share the same jobs, the woman always gets paid less. As well, women were not allowed to participate in plays, at least in some places. Women were all about supporting their husbands.
Christians were never comfortable back in the medieval ages; they wore shirts made of hair. They believed that because Jesus died uncomfortable, they were not allowed to live in comfort either. So despite the tortures of wearing clothing of hair, they still wore it as a sign of respect to Jesus. Although Christians wore hair for clothing, other peasants had their clothing woven from the wool of sheep. Maybe a few patches here and there, but it does not detract from the point.
In every village, there is a king and a queen (unless the king is not married). Every road leads to the castle in which the rich and the rulers live. Enough with the king and queen though, the castle is also where the landlords lived. So whenever the peasants didn’t pay their quotas, they no longer had a house to live in. Even though the houses were small, and uncomfortable, it was much better to pay for the house and have a small bit of comfort, than to live on the road. Imagine if it was raining, they would be soaked. What if it was snowing, they would be frozen cold.
The jobs varied in the medieval ages, there could be a farmer, who grew the crops and pretty much fed the village. They also took care of the animals, and milked cows. There could be a blacksmith, the blacksmith made the armor and weapons for the knights and kings. A couple of examples are leather armor, or steel swords. There was the rich, who were usually landlords, in which they did nothing except wait to receive your pay. Perhaps they were blessed with royal blood and heir to the throne, in which they were the main targets in a battle.
Entertainment in the middle ages could dangerous. An example is jousting, in which at two knights wait on horses at opposite sides of the arena. When allowed, the two nights ride at each other with lances. The objective of the game is to knock the opponent of their horse. If no one is knocked off, they continue to ride and stop at the end. The same thing happens again and again until someone is knocked off. There were also non-dangerous was of entertainment such as plays. The plays would be watched and no one would be harmed.
So by now, it should be noted that living in a medieval village is not the best choice, the best bet is to enjoy what there is here. The lifestyle is not desirable from the point of view of many others. Take in consideration the punishments, job, entertainment, the houses were small and much worse than those of today, and be grateful of what you have to day.
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