Medieval Farming glossary

Some Medieval Farming terms for your glossary:

Bailiff – The bailiff helped oversee the villeins’ work, the profits and expenses of the manor and farm.

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 – Those peasants who paid the lord to farm their land. They did not have to work for the lord every week like the villains, but did have to help out at busy times of the year and pay to use the lord’s oven and his mill.

Reeve – The reeve made sure the villeins worked for the lord, started their work on time and did not cheat the lord out of any money.

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

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.

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.

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

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 – 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