What Life Was Like For Peasants In A Medieval Castle | History for Sleep

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1iLKLmP... Fall asleep to one long working day inside a medieval castle on the Welsh border, around the year 1300, told by the people who kept it running: the kitchen boy, the groom, the carter, the laundress and the villeins of the manor below. When Countess Joan de Valence arrived at Goodrich Castle in November 1296, 81 pigs were slaughtered to feed a household of up to 196 people. Her accounts for Easter 1297 record 600 eggs bought for 2 shillings, 25 eggs for a penny. A villein's owed day of work was valued at a halfpenny, and a carter's whole year, grain and coin together, at 19 to 29 shillings. And when the gate was barred at dusk, one old rule said exactly where the man who drove the carts must sleep. Subscribe to the channel: @oldhistorynights In this video, we talk about what life was like for the peasants and servants of a medieval castle, including the kitchen fire uncovered before dawn, the great gate and the porter, week work, boon work and carrying services, John the baker and bread graded by rank, the farrier's forge and Hamo of the Coach, laying in fuel for the winter, the castle kitchen and its spit boys, Robert Grosseteste's rules for the great hall, alms for the 20 poor at the gate, the countess's chaplains and shoe allowances, the price of eggs and the wages of a year, the dairy and the home farm, washing day with ash and lye, Edward I's laundress Matilda de Wautham, the garrison of Harlech and Master James of St George, rushes and garderobes, the lights of evening, the villeins' walk home at dusk, the curfew, where every worker slept, the watchman on the wall, and the two sleeps. 🔔 Subscribe for more slow, quiet nights inside the households of the English past. 💬 Tell us where you're listening from, and which job in the castle you'd have wanted: the warm kitchen, the stable loft or the gate. 📢 Pass this on to anyone who could use a gentler night, on Facebook, Reddit or in a family group chat. You're the reason we keep making these. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 16:19 The baker and the daily loaves 35:54 A villein's day of carrying 56:40 Twenty poor at the gate 1:15:26 What a year of work was worth 1:34:37 The walls and the men who mend them 1:53:26 The villeins go home at dusk 2:12:15 Where each worker lay down 2:32:59 The castle asleep Sources: English Heritage, Life in a Medieval Household: the People of Goodrich Castle https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/v... Martha Carlin, the Seneschaucy (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/senescha... Martha Carlin, The Rules of Robert Grosseteste (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/?p=292 Historic Royal Palaces, The royal household in the medieval period https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-londo... World History Encyclopedia, The Household Staff in an English Medieval Castle https://www.worldhistory.org/article/... Milton Abbas History Group, Medieval peasant life: carrying services https://miltonabbashistorygroup.com/m... Castle Wales, Master James of St George https://castlewales.com/jsgeorge.html DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldHistoryNights #HistoryForSleep #SleepStory #MedievalHistory #MedievalCastle #MedievalEngland #MedievalPeasants #MedievalLife #CastleLife #GoodrichCastle #Herefordshire #WelshMarches #EdwardI #HarlechCastle #EnglishHistory #SocialHistory #BedtimeStory #History #Documentary