Medieval Farming Glossary

Medieval Farming glossary

Medieval Farming terms

Bailiff /Reeve– Top peasant who was the lord's manager. The bailiff helped oversee the villeins’ work, the profits and expenses of the manor and farm.  The term mayor and sheriff also originates from this term. The reeve made sure the villeins and serfs worked for the lord, started their work on time and did not cheat the lord out of any money.

Serf/ Villein – a peasant who was not free. They worked on the lord’s land and did certain jobs for him in return for the use of some land for himself. A villein was bound to work on a certain manor.

Manor – all the land owned by the lord in a medieval village which included the fields, the common land and the woodland.

The Manor house – the main house owned by the lord of the manor

Demesne (pronounced “domain”) – the best land in the manor for the Lord to farm.

Freeman – Serfs could escape the manor and live in a city for a year and a day and become a freeman.  That is where the saying "city air makes one free" originates.  Freeman on the farm were peasants who paid the lord to farm their land. They did not have to work for the lord every week like the serfs/villains, but did have to help out at busy times of the year and pay to use the lord’s oven and his mill. They could be thrown off the land if the lord had enough serfs to farm the land.

The Hayward – The peasant who looked after the cows

The Shepherd – The peasant who looked after the sheep

The swineherd – The peasant who looked after the pigs

Crops – the plants grown by the farmers which commonly included wheat and barley.  Look at three field system notes.

Harvest – Gathering in the crops from the fields when they are ready. Reaping is the cutting of the grain for harvest, using a scythe or sickle. Completed in the fall, the Octoberfest would follow.

Ploughing – This is when the top layers of soil are cut open, and turned over to bring nutrients to the surface and to allow air to enter, usually done around Groundhog's day also called Candlemas.(rows were blessed by local priest) 

Harrowing – Used to break up the earth even more than ploughing and also used to cover the seeds after sowing.

Sowing – The process of planting the seeds in the fields.  Seeds scattered throughout the fields.

Fallow - the land that is left to rest and not farmed for a year so the nutrients can be replaced.

Furrow – long lines made in the fields after ploughing.

Open field system/Three field system – the system by which the manor was split into three or four big unfenced fields which were in turn divided up into strips farmed by the peasants