Understanding Your Western European Ancestors:
Daily Life

Daily life for peasants was hard. Most worked long hours trying to ensure basic survival. Some of the wealthier landed peasants functioned mostly as overseers of the numerous hired hands. However, most peasants – men and women – worked at very physically draining tasks. Children were expected to help out from very young age.

Comforts in the lives of peasants were few. They experienced everything in its most raw form. Nothing shielded them from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. They usually had few possessions and ate very basic diets. Uncertainty was also a part of their lives. Most depended on the land for their sustenance. An early frost or plague of cattle disease could plunge a family into poverty. Peasants had little or no control over the events that shaped their lives. When misfortune struck, its effects could be devastating. The safety nets of today didn’t exist. Parish churches provided some assistance, but most people had to turn to family – who sometimes had little available to share.

The information included in this section mostly applies for peasants or people who made their living on the land since they made up the vast majority of the population.

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