00:00 The episode explores the lives and experiences of peasants, who made up the majority of people during the Middle Ages and were the backbone of medieval society.

05:13 Peasants in the medieval countryside were the backbone of society, producing the food that fed the wealthy and paying taxes that funded the construction of castles and cathedrals, despite being illiterate and leaving behind little written history.

10:23 Peasants in the early Middle Ages were better off than in later centuries, but as the feudal system took hold, the new aristocracy imposed heavier demands for rents and labor; villages in the medieval countryside varied in size and structure, with some being planned and others being unplanned, and they often included communal buildings and spaces; towns, on the other hand, were larger and served as centers for exchange.

15:23 Planned villages in the later Middle Ages led to diversity in peasant life, as the conditions and exactions faced by peasants varied depending on when the village was founded and the incentives offered by landowners, resulting in some villages having free peasants with low rents and few labor demands, while others had unfree peasants burdened by heavy exactions.

20:26 In the manor of Wispech in Eastern England, the major crops were wheat, winter barley, oats, and a mixture of wheat and barley, with beans and peas used for crop rotation, while livestock, particularly sheep, were the major holdings; in contrast, in northern Castile in Spain, grain, particularly wheat, barley, and rye, was the major product, with viticulture being a substantial activity and a different crop rotation system, a two-field system, being used.

25:20 Grain was the main crop for peasants in the medieval countryside, accounting for 75% of their total calorie consumption, and while peasants were not isolated from markets, they were not solely producing for them either, with a general trend towards more production for the market as the Middle Ages progressed.

30:11 Peasants in the medieval countryside were embedded in a world of sophisticated agricultural practice that changed in response to market and environmental conditions, and while they were primarily subsistence farmers, they also engaged in wage labor and sold surplus goods on the market to meet their needs beyond subsistence.

34:58 Peasants in the medieval countryside primarily bought and sold goods at formal markets, with larger towns having markets once a week or more, and peasants typically traveling up to six miles to buy and sell their surplus goods, while longer trips were usually made by traders; however, livestock, being easier and cheaper to transport, expanded the potential range for smaller time buyers and sellers, and peasants were integrated into larger patterns of market activity, engaging in transactions on some scale.

39:55 Medieval peasant life was communal, with peasants defining themselves as members of a particular village community and relying on ties of family, friends, and neighbors, as well as economic ties and ties of dependence and obligation to the owner of the manor and its agents.

44:59 Peasant villages in medieval Europe were made up of families that forged ties with other families through marriage and economic activities, creating strong communal bonds, but also faced financial obligations and exactions from the owner of the manor.

49:43 After the Black Death, lords in medieval Europe began letting out their land to peasant families, resulting in more prosperity for peasants and a stratified society within the village, with some wealthy peasants controlling a great deal of land, while others owned very little and had to supplement their subsistence needs with wage work or trade.

54:28 Peasants in medieval Europe had opportunities to exploit and improve their social and economic status, leading to the vibrancy of peasant society and their crucial role as the backbone of the Middle Ages.