23. In At Least One Way, Medieval Peasants Had it Better Than Us
The modern perception of medieval peasants is often one that views them as exploited, downtrodden, brutalized, oppressed, and overworked minions. For the most part, that is not inaccurate. To a large extent, peasants back in the Middle Ages were, indeed, exploited, downtrodden, brutalized, and oppressed. They were placed at the bottom of the social pyramid as a lower caste that had fewer legal rights and protections than the nobles and clergy above them. Moreover, a significant chunk of the fruits of their labor was taken by their social betters.
A European medieval peasant might have been reduced to the status of an outright serf, bound to the land and unable to leave without the proprietor’s permission. A peasant might be – and often was – required to put more time and effort to tend an aristocrat’s fields than he did on his own plot of land. However, when it comes to whether peasants were overworked, then, well – as it turns out, not so much. As seen below, modern Americans work longer hours, with fewer holidays and vacation time, than peasants back in the Middle Ages.
