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Building a Medieval Village pt. 7: A Year in the Farming Life
04 October 2026

Building a Medieval Village pt. 7: A Year in the Farming Life

The Maniculum Podcast

About

What did a year of farming look like in a medieval village, and what happens when a group of adventurers come into town during harvest season? This week, we explore the yearly ups and downs of farming in a medieval village, and the various reasons that an adventuring party might be called upon to help — or hinder — the lord and his fields.


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Citations & References

    Gies, Frances & Joseph. Life in a Medieval Village. Harper & Row, 1990. 
    Anderson, James. “An Account of the Lammas Festival, As It Uſed to Be Celebrated in Mid Lothian about the Middle of the Eighteenth Century." The Literary Magazine and British Review, vol. 11, 1793, pp. 277–80. Link.
    Bennett, Judith M. Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600. Oxford UP, 1996.
    Bright, James W., editor. “The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan.” Bright’s Anglo-Saxon Reader, revised by James R. Hulbert, Henry Holt and Company, 1948. pp. 38–44.
    Ellis, Penny. “Medieval Thoralby.” Thoralby Through Time. Link.
    Graeber, David. Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Melville House, 2011.
    Historic England. Medieval Settlements: Introductions to Heritage Assets. Historic England, 2018. Link. [A great PDF introduction.]
    The Middle English Compendium. University of Michigan. Link. [Note: this site often goes down.]
    Ray, T.J. “Feudal Terminology.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link.
    Ray, T.J. “Manorial Language.” T.J. Ray: The Eclectic Eccentric. Link.

Terminology & Spelling

    autumn works
    by-law
    fallow
    furlong
    glean
    harvest boon
    Hocktide
    Lammas 
    meadow
    pannage
    rogation day
    Shrove Tuesday 
    stubble
    terra nullius
    waste