Farming and slaving away at a tract of land day and night for 30 years and then dying an early death because of the plague after you lost most of your children in childbirth sounds like a terrible life.
But such was the life of a serf.
For today’s post we examine the existence of a serf to put it into the context of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. Knowing more about the lives of serfs can help us understand the upcoming chapters that deal with the peasantry, and it might let us (the reader) empathize with the marginalized serfs, because we know King Arthur lacks social awareness.
Life as fodder
Life as a serf was hard and laborious compared to the modern world (not that back-breaking labor has changed considerably since the dawn of time). However, the major difference is the exchange of labor for basic necessities (and perhaps that’s not all that different now even).
During the medieval period, serfs played a crucial role in the feudal system. These “unfree labourers” were an integral part of the societal structure, working on the land owned by feudal lords. While they did not have the privilege to work their own land, they were provided with certain benefits in return for their labor.
Their homes were “simple structures based on a wooden frame” and the walls were put together and insulated with the earth, while the roof was straw. These were homes of necessity and were composed of the most common resources found locally.
Additionally, the clothing of serfs served the most basic purposes. Medieval couture was reserved for the lords and ladies while much of serf clothing entailed a blouse, boots, trousers, a hat on rainy days, a sheath for a knife, and gloves for labor.
Meanwhile, their diets can be best described as “monotonous” as they consumed “brown bread and cheese” and “pottage” once a day, which was “a broth of grains, vegetables and possibly some meat or fish.” With these meager and lean luxuries, it was no surprise that starvation was a likely outcome during a difficult season (Havlidis).
The medieval social contract
Serfs were not considered slaves, as they were not owned by their lords. Instead, they were bound to the land and forced to work for the lord who owned it. In exchange for their labor, serfs were granted physical and legal protection, ensuring their safety and security within the feudal manor. This protection was particularly significant in an era marked by political instability and the constant threat of invasions and raids.
Moreover, serfs were entitled to work a separate piece of land known as a “villein’s croft.” This small plot of land was typically given to the serf and their family, allowing them to grow crops or raise livestock for their livelihood. This arrangement provided serfs with a degree of self-sufficiency (though minute and deliberate), ensuring they had access to basic necessities such as food and shelter and giving them a reason to not flee into the night.
The life of a serf was demanding, as they had to work in the fields and perform other services for their lord. However, serfs also had communal responsibilities within their village, such as maintenance or the construction of communal buildings. These communal activities fostered a sense of community among serfs.
Social standing
Despite their obligations to the lord, serfs held a particular social position in medieval society (however small). They were considered part of the “peasant class,” which also included other laborers. However, serfs had a more “secure” status than laborers, as they were forcibly tied to the land, and thus given the privilege to tend to it until they died, and then their children could take over for the next half century.
Twain might agree that the serfs were given just enough resources not to starve and enough privilege to scapegoat their problems onto another class of people, and the Gilded Age similarities continue.
However, the role of serfs gradually diminished over time, as social and economic changes brought about the decline of feudalism. Likewise, as these practices fell out of favor–mostly due to coinage–serfs at least had the semblance of a chance to buy their own freedom. As such, serfs gained increased opportunities for social advancement, leading to the eventual decline of serfdom altogether.
Conclusion
Serfs played a significant role in the medieval feudal system, providing labor and essential services to lords in exchange for “protection” and the ability to work a separate piece of land. But we can’t forget that this relationship, much as Mark Twain points out in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, is exploitative and sublimely idiotic, as only greed and a hunger for power can provide, as the relationship between the lords and the serfs includes taking advantage of the workers for a few wealthy lords whose objective was to consolidate power and extort wealth from every waking body.
While slavery and serfdom had differences, the similarities between the two are obvious.
Regardless, the work of the serf shaped the fabric of medieval society (as the bottom rung of the social ladder), and their legacy can still be seen in the historical records of the era and modern media. The workers, as Twain points out, are the ones who are paid less (and in this case indentured servitude) because the work is, well, work.
“The law of work does seem utterly unfair-but there it is, and nothing can change it: the higher the pay in enjoyment the worker gets out of it, the higher shall be his pay in cash, too” Twain states.
Recently we covered a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In the film, King Arthur has an exchange with a rather hostile (rightly so) serf who has recently been radicalized as his ignorance of the king has left him convinced that he is a part of a anarcho-syndicalyst commune.
As he argues against Arthur for his unintentional slight: “Oh king, eh, very nice. An’ how’d you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers — by hangin’ on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic an’ social differences in our society!”
Works Cited
Cartwright, Mark. “Serfdom in the Middle Ages.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 19 Oct. 2016, www.ancient.eu/Serfdom_in_the_Middle_Ages/.
Cartwright, Mark. “Serf.” World History Encyclopedia. World History Publishing. Web. https://www.worldhistory.org/Serf/
Havlidis, Romeo Dimitris. “The Life of a Villager During the Middle Ages.” Lost Kingdom. February 27th, 2015. Web. https://www.lostkingdom.net/the-life-of-a-villager-during-the-middle-ages/
