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The plague was one of the biggest killers of the Middle Ages – it had a devastating effect on the population of Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. Also known as the Black Death, the plague (caused by the bacterium called Yersinia pestis) was carried by fleas most often found on rats. It had arrived in Europe by 1348, and thousands died in places ranging from Italy, France and Germany to Scandinavia, England, Wales, Spain and Russia.

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They were almost like slaves. The people could not be bought and sold, but they could not leave their land without permission. Their land could be bought and sold. The land and all the food they grew belonged to the manor (noble). A serf's job was whatever the noble told them it was, carpenter, blacksmith, baker, farmer, and tax collector, serfs did it all. A serf could buy their own freedom if they could get the money, but where could they get the money? They were uneducated and mostly unskilled.

Everyone had to pay taxes. The peasants paid taxes to the lord or noble; they paid taxes up to the local duke or count who paid taxes to the king. Sometimes the taxes were paid in crops, sometimes in money, plus they had to set aside a number of days every year to work for the noble.

Peasants grew their own food. Three days a week, they worked to provide food for the lord of the manor. Three days a week they worked to provide food for themselves. Sunday was a day for prayer. They kept bees to make honey. They drew water from the village well, or if they were lucky, from a nearby stream. They kept fruit trees. They grew vegetables. They kept chickens. A peasant might own a cow for milk.

Their clothes were made of wool. They were held together with a rope tied around their waist. They usually went barefooted, even in the winter. Shoes took leather to make. Leather was made, but it was used to make shoes and clothing for the lord of the manor and his family. If there was any leather left over, they could make shoes for themselves.

Peasants and serfs got up, while it was still dark usually. The first thing they did was say their morning prayers. Then the men left to get their assignement for the day from the reeve, the manor lords' who directed their work. Usually the peasant's wife stayed home, fed the livestock, collected eggs, milked the cow, pulled water from the well or river, and cooked and washed. Women were responsible for weeding the garden near their home, picking vegetables, and spinning cloth. Kids did not go to school. Children worked with their mother. When the boys got old enough, they worked with their father. At night, they ate a simple meal of stew and black bead and sometimes cheese. Right after sunset, they went to bed.

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/commoners.html

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Serfs had shelter, while homeless Americans do not. 

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Serfs had shelter, while homeless Americans do not. 

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Serfs in the middle ages were generally peasant farmers who provided manual labor in their master’s land. The peasants would pay the lord some dues (in the form of labor) in exchange for using part of the lord’s land to generate their own food.

These farmers would work in the lands at least three times a week and sometimes longer during the plantation and harvest seasons. The serf was bound to work in a single manor and his status as a serf was passed on to his children, who would then continue to work in that same estate, regardless of whether the land changed ownership.

Serfdom was introduced by the Roman Empire and most of the peasants in the Middle Ages were those who took over from their families who worked in Roman slavery. In the Middle Ages, some freemen offered their freedom and labor to the lord in exchange for protection against the tides of war, diseases and poverty. Nevertheless, serfdom was largely seen as an oppressive system that possessed characteristics of partial freedom and slavery.

Within the middle ages manor or village where the serfs lived and worked, there were further stratifications. The freemen did not owe labor to their lords but they paid rent in the form of agricultural products or money. Other laborers included smallholders who would also rent very small pieces of land from the lord but they were not tied to the soil. At anytime these people would decide to become villeins and surrender most of their rights to the nobility or lords.

A villein or villain was the most common type of serf. Villeins had greater rights than the lower serfs. The lord allowed them to rent small houses but they would offer some of their time working in the lord’s manor. They would spend the remaining time working in their own lands. There were other variations of villeins especially in middle ages Europe.

There were half-villeins who had access to very small pieces of land for their use and they owed their lord complete labor. This would force them to serve in other serfs’ pieces of land to compensate for the hardship.

Cottagers or small holders were lowers than the villeins because they only had access to small pieces of land, enough to feed a family. They were also not allowed to own horses or oxen while they lived within the enclosure of the manor.

Essentially the slave was his master’s possession and could be exchanged like a commodity. The only difference between a slave and villein was that the villein was not traded and he would not be dispossessed of his belongings.

However, villeins were of a lower status that a freeman because the lord did not permit the villein serf to marry someone outside of the manor, or change homes or donate his property. The only way that a vellein would become free would be to run way to the city or a borough. But this would incur harsh penalties including losing land rights, paying a high price or loss of livelihood.

http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/serfs-in-the-middle-ages.html