The meaning or the word SERF or SERFDOM means that "a status of peasants under feudalism and relates to manorialism. It is a condition of the peasant who is bonded to the manor of the Lord's property that is developed during Middle Ages in Europe and lasted for centuries until the mid 19th century.
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Notes of
MY LIFE, MY LAND AND MY LORD
Notes of
MY LIFE, MY LAND AND MY LORD
"SERF"
"I am bound to my Lord and my land or farm. I am not a slave; I can not be bought of sold but I cannot leave my land without any permission from my Lord." 
Now is the hardest time of life in
the entire world. Robbers and thieves are everywhere and wanted everything. I
am a servant to my Lord called SERFS. Although crime is
everywhere, I am protected by my Lord and Knights. Most people during this time live in a manor. The manor is village with little castle, church, and land for farm around it. The Lord was given the land by the King. I am a peasant who worked in
a land that is own by my Lord. I have to farm all day long and pick the
vegetables, wheat, and all the farm products for the food of my Lords. I
am bound to the land but am I am not own or cannot be bought like slaves.
I work at least 3 days in a week on my Lord's land and work other things on the other days and Sundays is my day off. If my Lord sell
the land that I work for, I will have a new Lord as the owner of the land
changed, meaning that I am attached to the land or soil that I work for. If do not work well, I will be punished by my Lord.
This is how I look like almost everyday
My Lord's farm
My Work. My Life is NOT an EASY LIFE.
My life is always work, work and work. I started to work when I was 14 years old. My life is in my Lord's big and abundant farm. I plant and take care all the farm and will harvest the produce from the farm for my Lord who will protect me and my family and also my entire village.
It is not easy being in the farm or as a Serf. Serf has to do extra work in the village or in the farm. My life is dictated by the rule of my Lord. My Lord required me and other serf to do certain job and obey the rule. I also have to pay my Lord for the machinary that I use in the farm such as mill to ground the wheat. I have to pay with some kind of money form or I can pay the Lord with more wheat, grain, eggs, honey or other produce. Basically, my Lord wants me to pay some form of tax that is a big burden for serf like me. The Lord is the one who tell me how much I have to pay the tax. The Lord is the one who tell me how heavy my job is.
Here are my schedules all year long:
January & February:
I work indoor to repair my hunting nets, sharpening tools, utensils. If it is not too cold outside, I will work outside to collect firewood, prune vines and made some gate for the farm.
March:
I work in the fields, plowing and cultivating.
April:
I clean ditches, pruning trees, fixing sheds, hauling timber, and repairing roofs.
May:
I clean and shear sheep, planting and do maintenance on everything.
June:
I start mowing and gathering hay crop.
July:
I harvest grains, bundle sheaves, weeding gardens.
August:
I threshing and winnowing of grains, grinding of grains into flour.
September:
I picked, dried and stored fruits.
I picked and pressed grapes for juice and wine.
October:
I gather nuts, roots, berries, and mushrooms, plow and sow empty fields with winter wheat.
I also need to repair my equipment for the next planting.
November:
I need to gather firewood by this month and then split, and stacked them for winter and cold season. I slaughtered pigs and cows meat and smoked the meat. I also do proses of flax and hemp to make thread and rope.
December:
I trim trees, pruned grape vines and I will hunt.
Food that I eat.
All my hard work and waking up as early as 3am and go to the farm in cold winter morning is to earn protection from my powerful and wealthy Lord. My Lord will protect me, my family and my village from the harsh situation in this time. I will be protected, sheltered and fed well. I will be protected from the crime and all the villains that is everywhere during this time.
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The most famous meal for me is soups. We make soup from peas, beans, cabbage and nuts. Leeks, carrots, onions, parsley and turnips. The most popular soup is called pottage. Pottage is a thick soup stew that is made with anything available. Pottage is made from vegetable, grains, herbs and sometime meet is added. The most popular pottage is made of leek.
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| Pottage |
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| Wheat Bread |
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| MY LUNCH TIME |
Clothes that I Wear.
You can tell if I am a serf is from my clothing. I and other serfs make our own clothing.
I wear clothes for the function of the clothing itself, not for fashion purpose. Because I spend most of the time in farm, my clothes is to protect my body from wind, dirt and sun.
I do not really wash my clothes that often but I always wash my undergarments daily. My clothes that I have is not that colorful. The style is very basic.
They are mostly dark color and earthy tone.
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| ME AND MY FRIENDS SERFS |
My Home in the Village.
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| MY VILLAGE |
Manors are isolated from one to the other, each group of serf or village produce their own food, clothing and shelter. We raised sheep for wool. We have cows for their milk and meat.
Our home, we built ourselves with straws from farm and wood from the forest near by. In the house we have one or two rooms, but our home is warm and cozy for us. We usually sleep in piles of straw. We also sleep with our animals too inside our home.
Stools and tables are our only furniture at that time
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| Inside my House |
l am happy in my Lord's land
I am happy living in my Lord's manor because my Lord always have a big feast on Christmas for our entertainment. We celebrated with singing and dancing with lots and lots of food from our farm and of course very good quality of wine that we produced.
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| Christmas Feast with Rack of Lamb |
During other time we can also participate in wrestling, archery and sometime we play soccer. However, we do not participate in army to protect our country.
l am Important to My Lord
Even I am poor and work in farm, I am very very very important in my Lord's life.
Without the serfs who plant and work in manor, my Lord cannot get food or produce the Lord needed. I have to do certain job that is assigned for me. I am a farmer. I farm produce such as apple, orang and other fruits during the spring and winter and I will take care the grapes and the the vineyard (I also can make wine from the grapes) Other serfs have other jobs, such as craftmen, bakers, tax collectors and other kinds of jobs. I and other serfs have to do the job well in exchange for my safety and protection from my Lord. If I don't farm well, my Lord will be angry and will punish me. Each manor has its court of law.
Then I will be send to forest to hunt without protection. Then, the villain or robbers will hunt me in the forrest.
"Let the reeve be all the time with the serfs (peasants) in the lord's fields.....
because serfs neglect their work
and
it is necessary to guard against their fraud......
the reeve must oversee all work...........
if they (serfs) do not work well, let them be punished".
Written by Walter of Henley c. 1275
Bibliography
"24-4 The Manor." 24-4 The Manor. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.smithlifescience.com/24-4Manor.htm>.
"Medieval Bread Baking :: Stronghold Knights :: Ready to Serve You!" Medieval Bread Baking :: Stronghold Knights :: Ready to Serve You! N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.stronghold-knights.com/site/article336.html>.
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