Peasants grew the crops and tended the livestock. They generally rented strips of land from th elrod of the manor, and paid rent in in the form of labour on the lord's own farm (demesne). Peasants made money by selling their surplus produce. In time, this labour rent was replaced by cash rent, which was more convenient for both lord and peasant. some peasants worked as paid labor on the lord's demesne, or sometimes poor peasants with little or no land of their own worked for wealthier peasants as servants or laborers.
Peasants might be free or serfs(villein was the more common term usedin england). Serfs had a number of extra obligations towards their lord and were subject to various restrictions, but status in a peasant village was more dependent on how much land you owned than whether you were serf or free. The rich villein was a bigger man in the village than a poor free man.
A lot of the jobs done by peasants would be seasonal, they would plow, sow, weed, mow, reap, etc, at the appropriate time of year. there would also be jobs that would have to be performed all year round, like tending the livestock, mending tools and fences etc. Since the fields were divided into strips owned by many different peasants, they would do the seasonal jobs in unision.
Villages contained a few specialised craftsmen, like the blacksmith, the carpenter, the miller, the baker. some villager had a tanner, and there might be a dyer (who dyed wool, peasants liked bright coloured clothing, they favoured reds, blues and greens, which could all be produced by natural dyes). There would also be itinerant tradesmen who came to the village, like slaters, tilers, thatchers, tinkers (who sold and repaired pots and pans) etc.
Some peasants were appointed to official positions in the village. The Reeve for example was the chief official of the village. He was responsible for seeing to it that the peasants performed their labor duty for the lord, he supervised the formation of the plow teams, saw to the penning and folding of the lord's livestock, ordered the mending of the lord's fences, and made sure sufficient forage was saved for winter. He also produced a yearly account of the demesne's produce and expenses. The reeve's assistant was called teh beadle, hayward or messsor, who had primary responsibility for the seeds saved from last year's crop, its preservation and sowing, including the performance of the plowmen in their plowing. Many manors also had a woodward to see that no one took anything from the lord'ss wood except what he was allowed by custom or payment. One set of officials no village was ever without was the ale-tasters, who assessed and monitored the quality and price of ale brewed for sale to the public. This was the only village office ever filled by women, who did most of the brewing.
Peasant women performed a vareity of tasks. in 'Life in a Medieval Village' Francess and Joseph Gies write:
'Besides spinning, weaving, ssewing, cheese-making, cooking and cleaning, women di foraging, gardening, weeding, haymaking, carrying, and animal-tending. They joined in the lord's harvest boon unless excused, and helped bring in the family's own harvest. Often women served as paid labor, receiving at least some of the time wages equal to men's.'
