What was the role of a cottar in medieval times?

Answer 1

AnswerA Cottar was one of the lowest peasant occupations, undertaken by the old or infirm, who had a series of low duties including swine-herd,, prison guard and menial tasks AnswerA cottar was not a job, but a class status. A cottar was above a serf, but only to the extent that a cottar was free to move off the manor without needing to get permission. The down side of this was that the cottar did not have the rights to stay on the manor, to farm there, and to be protected, which were rights of serfs.

Usually, cottars farmed, but this was not necessarily the case. They had to pay rent, and they had jobs, but the jobs could include being a potter, weaving, making bricks, tanning leather, or any of a number of other jobs that could be done in a hamlet or village.

A third answer: Cottar is related to the word cottager. It refers to a peasant who hold no land beyond a cottage, its immediate yard, and a small plot of garden land (half and acre to an acre) adjoining it called a croft. Cottagers could be either free or serf, the main difference being that the serf cottagers would owe a certain amount of labor to the lord the manor. The amount of produce available from the cottars own holdings were generally insufficient to support a family, so cottars would work as hired laborers and also practice basic crafts such as brewing and spinning to supplement their income.