What did a medieval serf house look like?

Answer 1

A serf house was basically the same as the house of any other peasant. The roofs were thatched, the floors consisted of shrubs and rushes, houses were often extremely small and all family members slept close in small quarters.

The windows of the houses were small, much like slits in the walls which allowed light in and allowed occupants of the home to see out. The windows also often had wooden shutters, to provide more protection from the cold. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

A manor was a piece of land having farm fields, and woods, a hamlet or village, farm buildings, and a house for a lord to live in with his family. Sometimes there was a second, smaller, nice house. If the manor had a village rather than a hamlet, there would be a church. There was likely to be a blacksmith's shop, and there might have been one or more serfs who sold beer and whose house was a gathering spot.

There is a link below to an article on manorialism.

Answer 3

Manor houses, like any house, varied in design, size, and complexity based on the wealth of the owner. Some might be constructed of stone, the more expensive option, others were framed with timber and used either a wattle and daub or lathe and plaster system to fill the areas between the posts.

The central feature of any medieval dwelling, be it a peasants cottage all the way to a noble's castle, was a main hall. The hall was a large room, typically with a high ceiling, where people ate meals, socialized, and did many household chores, and some household members slept. There would have been either a central hearth, essentially a low stone platform in the middle of the room, or later in the middle ages a fireplace, that served as the main source of heat and light for the room. Cooking might be done at the hearth or fireplace, but some manors might have a separate kitchen, possible attached to the main house, possible as a separate nearby structure.

At one end of the great hall would have been two smaller rooms, a buttery and a pantry. The pantry in theory was a room for storing bread, but in practice it was also used for things like dishes, plates, and common household items like candles, basically items that would be needed at meals or by those enjoying the hall. The buttery was a room to store barrels and casks (sometimes called butts, thus the name) of wine and ale, although the house might have a cellar for additional storage space.

A manor house would likely also have a room called a solar. The solar was the private quarters of the owner of the house. The name is related to the word "sole", meaning alone or private. This might be a room above the buttery and pantry, a separate attached room, or in some cases even a separate structure next to the house.

Manor houses could become more complex, especially toward the end of the middle ages. More elaborate houses were still based on a great hall and the attached rooms, but they could have additional ranges encircling a courtyard, guest rooms, a chapel, and a gatehouse to control entry.

The medieval manor was the heart of the lord's holdings, and would be part of a larger complex of structures that might have included barns, byres, living quarters for servants and farm workers, storage, bake houses, brew houses, etc. The complex overall was usually surrounded by a ditch, hedge, or fence to set it apart from the common parts of the village.

Answer 4

well it looks like straw wood and i guess that all

Answer 5

Most people of the Middle Ages were peasants, and many peasant houses were one room. At the other extreme, palaces were houses, and could be gigantic.