Monday, 20 April 2020

Farming and the life of a serf

Serfs were tied to the land. Generations would live in the same spot. The serfs would have a house in the village, often 10ft by 20ft, but sometimes a little larger. The serfs would farm the fields in the surrounding area. About 30 acres would be farmed by a family and produce enough for them to survive. This is about the size of the field that Athlone and Bruce sit on. The serfs would often have to pay outrageous portions of their crops to the lord of the manor.

Fields were in long strips, which was easier for the ox to plough, and an acre was the measurement of what an ox could plough in one day, One furlough long by one chain wide (660 by 66ft).

One third of the land would be planted with barley (or sometimes another crop) in the spring, one third would be planted with wheat (or another winter crop) in the fall, and one third would be left to fallow (rest). The serf would rotate the fields around for the next growing season.

The size of a Serf family was about 6-7 people. Find your family and do the following tasks.






 1. Though a family size would be about 6, having 10 children was pretty common. Why wasn't the average family size 12? (hint, why did women often not live past 40?)

2. Using the cones, your group will  outline the size of your house. See how you all fit inside the house. Walk around in the area, find out where you would sleep, cook, eat, and relax. Take a picture and post it here of your family at home. Scan the qr code above to post your picture. Be sure to include your family name in the subject and the picture in the body of the email.


3. Then measure out the size of one acre, what you could get ploughed in a day. In the spring time you would plough 10 acres, and the same in the fall. Take a picture of your acre and post again.

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