• Overview: Life in Medieval Europe was very routine, and revolved around an agrarian calendar. Most of the time was spending toiling over the land and attempting to grow enough food to survive. Peasants lived and worked outside in simple dress and had a meager diet. Church feasts marked important planting and harvesting as well as rest days. Life was very much localized. Social events like weddings involved the entire town. Fairs involved performers, merchants, games of chance at the tavern, and tournaments featuring knights. Superstition dominated the minds of the people.
• Cities: Few cities existed in Europe before the 13th century. Viking invasions influenced the proliferation of cities in the West. Cities’ origins were that of towns fortifying in order to protect themselves from being sacked and plundered. Urban life became more prominent as time passed.
• Villages: The majority of people lived in villages and their lives centered around farming. People and buildings resided near the center of the village surrounded by fields and pastures. Lives were lived out here with rarely a chance to leave. Villages depended on common enterprise to survive and sometimes moved if the land became infertile or the weather too harsh. Villages often had lords residing in castles nearby.
• Commerce: (1) Merchants began trading with those of other cities and treaties were formed to protect those carrying goods from one city to another, with these caravans often protected by government troops. Within a city, merchants often swore association to protect each other within the walls. (2) Medieval towns held markets at least once a week in the square, where stalls were set up and local merchants would sell their wares. Nearby towns may have also sent any surplus goods they could to be sold. (3) Fairs attracted foreign merchant to sell things not easily found in the area. (4) Particular trades banded together to form guilds, setting standards as well as protecting the members. Apprenticeships were how people started in a particular trade.
• Women: Women in the Middle Ages were usually treated as property. While medieval country marriages were often the result of love, marriage among the noble class was more a business transaction.
• Entertainment: Monotony in medieval life was broken by holidays and festivals. Medieval entertainment varied by status but included feasts, banquets, jousts, tournaments, plays, fairs, games including chess, and animals.
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