The date is September 17, 986. You are a serf living on the feudal estate of Lord Spaulding somewhere in Western Europe . For this blog assignment, you must create a diary entry (or series of entries) in which you describe what your daily is like.
Be as creative as possible, and choose things to write about that will accurately describe what a real day (or days) would have been like for you as a peasant or a serf. Be sure to start your diary entry with the date mentioned above, and when writing, consider the time of year and what you might be doing during that particular season (end of summer or early fall).
Your diary must detail at least four aspects of your life for you to receive full credit on this blog entry. Bear in mind that four aspects of your life does not mean just four sentences. Each aspect of your life will most likely require several sentences for you to fully develop and explain it.
This blog entry is due by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, November 8th.
TALIA HEMPEL 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986.
deer diary
this week been harsh. with the last war over, our potato gardens been destroyed and Lord Spaulding had ordered another bushel of them. what are we supposed to do? while our potatoes has been destroyed our cabbage plants are growin alot. we have five bushels ready which means we get one of them since Lord Spaulding ordered only four of them. the carrots arent ready and we still need three bushels. guess we will have to go with out them this winter. me and me husband, thomas live in three miles from Lord Spauldings fancy castle on a hill. i thank me God every day for him. he be a good husband and work hard as a pack horse. we got married 2 weeks after me fourteenth birthday. its october now so we been married for two months. he a kind man and help me a lot cuz i don’t have the best education. i actually am getting lessons in private from a fancy noblewomen a couple miles away. i already have known the alphabet for a few months and i can read a bit. she be a nice women and even last week gave us some salted meat. we be saving it for the winter. i cant remember ever having some good ole meat cuz us peasants don’t ever get it. only on rare occasions. anyways we have our little house on the hill near the woods. it’s a good house compared to our neighbors who only got em shack with no doors and got to sleep on the ground. in our house we got one bed. ( that was a gift from me pa for a wedding gift. me pa a carpenter) we got a hole in the floor for a nice ole fire in the winter. our houses has a dirt floor and is made from the timber of the woods. we got a door but no winders, but we love our house. it’s a good ole houses.we got blessed with an ok life and god is merciful. he give us a good home, me a nice ole husband , food to eat, and a good living. we go to the church every sunday like the wonderful big ole bible say. i be followin the sacrements and doing wat they say. the bible that if i follow them then i will have the salvation it talk about. i be tired now from working another twelve hour day. good nite
September 17, 986
ReplyDeleteToday was a very hard day of work. I got up at 2 in the morning and didn't take a break until 7:30 tonight. I had to harvest most of the crops. As if that wasn't enough, we had to give him 4 out of our 12 bushels that are supposed to last us all winter. When I got home we had little to eat for dinner. All we had was 2 pieces of bread and milk. Little Billy has also come down with a bad case of malaria. We have to keep him quarantined off from the rest of the family. It seems like there is little chance of survival for him. Tomorrow is the day of the Lord which means it is my only day off. I will enjoy it very much because the next day I am back to work.
Sincerely,
Colton
TYLER LENNEMANN 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Today was a long hard day no different than any other one other than today we had an attack. I was out in the field harvesting the beets and radishes. All of a sudden I smelt smoke then looked towards our village, and it was on fire. The attack only lasted a little while but they stole all of what I just harvested the day before………that really sucked. Thanks god since I’m a peasant I was able to leave for the evening and find a nicer place. Well I’m going to bed so goodnight.
September 18, 986
Today we have the day off because of church. I don’t really know what the priests are saying but I know it’s religious……….so I just listen. I sometimes understand because of pictures but most of the time I have no idea. Church usually gets out after we eat lunch after church me and my family usually work on our house its nothing more than a hut with a dirt floor but it’s the nicest I’ve ever had.
MAX RANDOLPH 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Today, I woke up to find that my family has already started working without me. I usually am the first one up but I guess today not. So for today, I have to chop down the crops for Lord Spaulding, which is gonna be extremely difficult due to lack of serfs becuase of sickness. The fields are extremely big and there are alot of crops.
As the afternoon comes, I have to gather water from a river far from the fief. I walk back and forth a very long time untill kinghts come along and start to attack. Everone runs into the castle for defense. We stay in there for a very long time and the knights retreat. They have destroyed some crops and burned a couple houses down. What a waste.
As evening comes I try to help my family finish up their work with whatever they are doing. I help my wife pick berries of the bushes and my son finish with what's left of the crops. Lord Spaulding comes out to investigate the damage done to the villages and crops. He seems ok but yet unpleased about the loss of the crops.(We're fine, thanks for asking.) But he returns to the castle and does whatever he does.
As night comes we say our prayers and eat what we have. We try to divide the food up as much as we can but still some go without food.I go without food because I gave my portion to my family. As we go to bed, I say one extra prayer and pray that no attack comes in the night.
September 17, 986
ReplyDeleteFixing to get myself married today.... Daddy's orders. He said I should make something of myself, instead of waste space in his household. It's raining.... How ironic. (Get it, Mr. Prezzavento?) Obviously it's a bad sign....an omen of sorts. Even so, Daddy won't have any ifs, ands, or buts about it, and completely disregarded my concerns.... At the age of 14, he says, I'm overdue for a household tyrant of my own, so that my dead weight is finally off his back. I've had my bath, just for the occasion... Last of my family, 'cept for the baby. Bottom of the food chain. That's enough of my self pity, though.... The priest is beckoning me to the altar.
September 30, 986
ReplyDeleteEveryone's been coughing and wheezing.... It's the work of Evil Spirits, i guarantee it. A good amount of 'em, too. It's rubbing off on everyone; the young and the old, the big and the small. Bless them, because from the way this situation rubs me, they're going to need it. With terrible fever and blisters covering their skin, Wrath and Gluttony are finally making the followers of their specialties pay the price. Cross your fingers and pray, because you never know, you may be next on Satan's death-schedule.... You, your neighbor, the man across the street, your own husband.... No one is safe... And you just never know when you'll draw your last breath, and ascend to meet the Lord above. These times are dark, but believe it or not, I guarantee that That-Certain-Place-Below is just that much darker.
October 21, 986
ReplyDeleteMurder. That's what today's work was. The sun burned hot in the sky, slowly baking the people beneath it. Even though it's a good ways into Autumn, God must not think that we've had enough of the summer's blistering heat. My last pair of shoes had finally worn through, too, in the middle of it all, the soles slowly scraped away throughout the year. New, more harsh blisters are now housed on my feet, alongside their seniors, calluses, and on my right foot, a deep, bloody gash upon the arch. For the first hour or so, it bled a good liter, before I finally lost feeling in the appendage all together. I was able to fill my daily quota of fieldwork, because I wasn't allowed to stop working, but nausea and dizziness plagued me nonstop. Still, tomorrow's the day when the crop's harvesting is finished, and we can pay our dues in wheat to Lord Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (It's the name of a hill in New Zealand. It translates to, "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one." and is the second longest name in the English language!). With that, I can rest easy, and I've decided to lie down for a bit....
November 1, 986
ReplyDeleteWhere my right foot and shin used to exist, there is now a disgusting, bloody, black stump. From my gash in my foot, my skin began to slowly and painfully die, rendering my entire leg useless. A local peasant who was assigned with doctor's work came by to take a look at it whenever my husband had laid his eyes upon my increasingly gangrenous flesh, and requested a doctor's assessment. He informed me that if I valued my life, I would allow surgery to be performed on me, which would result in the lost of my right leg, up to my kneecap. I obliged, of course, because I wouldn't be much use to anyone in my current health. I only prayed to God that blood loss didn't get to me before the surgeon's stitches. And now, here I sit, after a bloody, painful amputation, which consisted in the sawing and cracking of my bones, and tearing of my flesh, with only a leather belt for me to bite down on as a form of comfort. After long, though, pain caused me to black out, so I don't remember much... That first 10 minutes was enough for me, though. God had blessed me with a temporary release, is the way I see it. He isn't helping now, though, with my stump of a leg pulsating and throbbing painfully. I'm feeling a little lightheaded..... The world around be grows hazy, as well as my thoughts..... And now, I'm seeing stars.
NIK ALPHIN 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteHello my name is Arnold. I am a peasant under the lord of Farquad in the land of Far Far Away. My parents just built are one bedroom house. Tomorrow will be my first day of work! I hope it is great!
Let me just start off with my first night in the house by saying how terrible it was! It rained the day before so we slept in the mud. We almost couldn't find my baby sister because of how much mud there was! I hardly got any sleep, and THEN I had to get up at the crack of dawn to start to work. I still have blisters from all the work we did. Well the sun is going down and there is no candles, so Ill have to write again tomorrow!
I have spent almost a week here now and I'm begining to have back problems. I can't hardly bend over now! My poor pet dog Fred fell from our roof yesterday. We don't think he is going to make it. Oh and tomorrow king Farquad came by today to see how we are doing! He found one of our neighbors just sitting there doing nothing, so he made he's guards take him to the "dungeons" whatever that is.
It has been over a year now since we have been working here. I am used to everything now. The pain is numb. I see all my neighbors die and new one's come. I feel nothing. Poor father died last week. He was only 38! I'm sick of this. Me and my friends are planning an escape. By this time tomorrow we will be long gone from here. Mother and my baby sister will tag along too. I shall write back in this if we have succeded.
September 17, 1986
ReplyDeleteHello, my name Saja Alshati. I am a serf. I work everyday, and at my hardest. Sometimes I think of running away, but where will I go?
September 19, 1986
Early fall now, the weather is slowly transferring to cold. Working in the fields is becoming more and more difficult. Everyday, the same routine, wake up and work till I slumber again. I shall be the luckiest to have food.. That doesnt happen very often though.
September 22, 1986
Today was rather strange. I haven't seen my master at all. I wondered why? Then later on the news passed on to me. My master has plague. Even after all what my master put me through, I still felt bad for him, odd isn't it?
September 30, 1986
I woke up today and expected to work on the fields like everyday, to my surprise, I woke up into a nightmare. For today, they took away my family. My husband and son were separated from me. The tears just gushing out of me. I couldn't stop them, and if I tried, they would whip me. I didn't know what to do. I felt angry and hurt. I wished my master would die.
November 2, 1986
I woke up. Feeling disgusting. I did not feel good at all. Boils, all over my body. Why its there, I don't know. I felt stinging pain in my sides. I couldn't get up to finish my work. I laid there. Then suddenly, the masters wife comes and tells me I have the plague, and there was nothing anyone can do to make it go away. I was numb to my core for I just knew what was coming soon. To make it all worse, today was the day my master dies.
November 13, 1986
Saja Alshati, dies from the plague.
GINNY JONES 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteDear Diary, September 17th,986 AD
My name is Isabella, and today I turned 13 years old. My father is a carpenter and has helped build Lord Spaulding's manor. Father has begun to choose which man I will marry when I turn 14 next year. Christopher, my oldest brother, married the blacksmitha oldest daughter Elizabeth. They were married last week when we had bathed the day before the wedding. Elizabeth held a bright bunch of flowers while walking down the aisle. When she reached the priest, Christopher removed the vail covering her face. I must go now the sun is setting.
-Isabella
Dear Diary, September 19th, 986 AD
Today we went to church and the priest told the story of Jesus's birth, but he told the story in a strange langauge that I could not understand. But the pictures were beautiful and told the story for us. After the story the priest began to preach about the meaning of the story. Shortly after that he began communion and offered us red wine and bread. Soon after that church was dismissed and we left for home.
- Isabella
Dear Diary, September 21st, 986 AD
Father has fallen ill with a fever. He is very old now so Mother is very worried about him. The priest has blessed him and the doctor has given him some herbs to help make the fever go down. Since Father is ill Christopher must take charge and run Father's shop and do so until he is well again. I must take care of Father until he is well again. Father is awake now so i must go.
-Isabella
Dear Diary, September 25th, 986 AD
Father has passed away and is now in Heaven with our loving lord. The priest did the anointing today before he was buried next our grandmother. Since he has passed Christopher is now the head of the family and is now running the shop. Mother is so devstated she cried the whole night and kept baby Will up with her crying. Since she had not slept at all last night i did her morning chores of milking the cow and making breakfeast for the family. For the rest of the day she did nothing but stare at the wall with a look of absulte sadness.
- Isabella
Dear Diary, September 30th, 986 AD
Mother has gotten better since the last time i wrote she has started helping out again has reurned to her normal routine. But you can still tell she is sad but there something new worrying her now, how will we fair winter without father to bring home meat on Christmas Eve or how she will keep the rest of my brothers from misbehaving during church. Since Father did not decide who I would marry Christopher has decide to have me marry his best friend Peter, who is 18 years old and is the son of a farmer. I'm very lucky to marry someone my age, my friend Mary is married to a man who is twice her age of 12.
Mother needs me to make supper so i must go for now.
- Isabella
ALLIE GAL 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Dear Diary,
I guess I’ll start off by telling you a little about myself. My name is Allie Gal, and I am a peasant living in Western Europe. I live on a manor under the control of Lord Rufus. The conditions are harsh and my family and I work from sun up to sun down just to get by. I actually work as a stable hand within Lord Rufus’ castle. Working with the horses is one of the few things in my life that I actually enjoy. Last year we had barely scraped by with enough produce to pay off our taxes to Lord Rufus. Our house, which is actually a rudimentary shack, sits on the outskirts of our cabbage patch farm. It’s extremely cold in the winter, and scorching in the summer. Sleep for me is nearly impossible when I sleep on the cold, dirt floor, and when it rains the floor becomes this muddy mess. Putting straw down helps to cover the sloshy mess, but it does little to helping me sleep. Every night I wonder how I’m going to get through the next day, considering the fact that rarely anyone in our village lives past the tender age of 40. It astounds me that my dad exceeds that age by 13 years. Our days are consumed by work, work, and more work, so cleanliness and hygiene are the last of our priorities, but once a year we get to take a bath. It’s another one of my few favorite things in life that I enjoy, and I wish it happened more often. My father gets to take his first, followed by my younger brother, then my mother, and then finally me. Of course by the time it’s my turn the water is murky and cold, but I’m grateful for it anyway because I finally get to wash the muck from cleaning out the stables off me. Sundays are my favorite days because it’s the one day a week where we don’t have to work. After a whole week of running on empty, I finally get to take a breather. My family and I go to church and sit in a pew and relax. I never have any clue as to what the preacher is saying, so I just tune out and daydream. I like to think about what I wish my life to be like, and that thought alone is what helps me to make it through my days.
SHELBY WINKLER 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Dear Diary,
Today seemed like it lasted for a very long time. I woke at dawn like every day and worked till dusk, today I had to harvest as much of the crop as I could because it is nearly the end of summer. Thankfully today is Saturday and I get tomorrow off because it is the holy day, the only day when my family and I can relax and have what fun we can.
However our home is so uncomfortable it is hard to have fun because we are always so tired due to the fact that it is rather hard to sleep on a dirt floor. Sometimes mud floors such as last night because it rained all day. The family did not mind much though because we got to have meat last night! I do not recall the last time we had anything but bread, vegetables, and water but it was a great night. We where all so happy that father got meat to bring home.
I hope to leave this land one day..though I know I will always be poor it would be nice to go somewhere different. I would of course have to as Lord Spaulding, father does not seem to think he will allow me to leave, but you never know until you try..right? I guess that is something for me to think on.
Goodnight.
- Shelby
ASHLEIGH STEWART - 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteDear Diary,
I hate being a serf! The work is horrible, we have to sleep on the ground while the lord sleeps in a big comfy bed in a giant house! Let me tell you about my day.
First, I wake up in the morning and feed the animals, not bad right? Nahh..not too bad, but it gets bad. Then, I have to do my other chores, which includes, fixing fences and digging ditches, so many blisters! But, this time of year it's harvest time and the WHOLE family has to harvest the fields all day long for almost a whole week. After a day of work, I'm so sore I can barely move and then I have to lie of the cold dirt floor to sleep? More pain in the morning.
Second, we can't leave without having permission and even then I'm pretty sure we'd have to pay a fee. I haven't had a need to leave. We only get one day of rest, which is the only thing I can look forward too. We have to work from dawn to dusk almost nonstop. We're always covered in mud too. All we own are our bellies.
Then, when we actually get baths dad and my brothers get to take the baths first. Mom, me and my sisters get all their dirty water, and I'm pretty sure I'm dirtier when I come out than when I get in. I'm always afraid mom will lose the baby in the water after the bath because of the murkiness. But it's only once a year, so I don't have to always be worried.
Finally, I've been a serf since I was born and I'll be one until I die, which is the only thing I look forward too.
Tj Nuelle 7th
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
.All this week i have been working my fingers to the bone in the fields. Its been realy rainy the past couple of days, making the work even harder. Since all the rain weve had to lay extra straw down in our shack. its not an ideal place to sleep but i guess its better than nothing.
.Today after church my dad didnt agree with the sermon. Later that night some strange men came to the door in the middle of the night and took him. He later came back all bloody and had strange holes in his clothes. Him and mom have been wispering all nite about what happed to him.
.Sometimes i wonder what its like outside this estate. Since we cant leave the estate. I have the same day everyday. I wake up and work. I dont like living here but mom and dad say its all we have and that we wont ever be able to leave.
.Every day after we do our daily chores we go to church. I realy dont like going to church. I dont like going because i cant understand anything that theyre talking about. But everyone goes. And mom and Dad tell me that if i dont go i wont ever make it into heaven so i agree and go.
LOGAN ZEHR 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17,986
I wake up from another restless night right as the sun rises. The dirt floor was hard and cold. Luckily, it didn't rain or I would have slept in mud. I need to find something to cover myself with, since I have no one to sleep with to keep warm.
After I get home at sunset,some knights came to my hut to declare my payment to the lord of the fief, Lord Spaulding. Since I grow wheat, I had to pay them 15 bags of wheat, leaving me with 2 bags to last 3 weeks as bread.
The next day, I went to church since it was sunday. We didn't have to work today. The priest talked in latin, so I couldn't understand him. I don't think anyone could.
Today, knights were calling for enlistments for our militia. Every man had to join. We are fighting our neighboring fief for their land.I am going to go to war tomorrow. This is how the rest of my week went.
MARISSA RYDER 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
The weather is getting cold outside and the crops are ready to be harvested. I started dinner for my family, the bread was starting to get stale so we had to finish that off. Tomorrow i will begin to start another loaf. It will take about two days for the dough to rise high enough to bake. I started mixing the potatos and milk together so that they would be ready.
November 6, 986
I started the day by helping my beloved husband prepare for his day in the fields. This is the first day of the harvest season. We will made enought corn so that we have 2 bushels left over after paying the nobleman Terri.
December 18, 986
The fields are frozen over with frost. There isn't a lot to do around the fief. We are spending our time working around the house preparing for the fisrt snow. Billy Bob Jr has gone out to get a stack or two of hay to lay out on the ground of the house.
February 17, 987
The new year has come. I am excited for the time to take our baths. It has been almost a year since we have bathed and it has started to smell a little bit odd. We only have to wait for a few more months.
March 7, 987
Billy Bob Jr has started attending to the new crop season. It seems that the year will bring a wonderful ourcome of the crop and we hope to have a bigger amount of left overs than last years. Next week we will go out to the lake and fill the bathing bucket with water. I will feel so muc more relaxed once i have my bath.
May 12, 987
Today was sunday and we had to wake up earlier than usual. We much walk to the church today and arive earlier so that we may get a better seat closer to the prist. I do not understand much of what they speak about from the bible but the pictures do explain more for us.
ALEX ANDERSON 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
I woke up this morning, i slept horrible again from sleeping on the cold hard floor. I was cold all night because i again had no form of blankets or covers to keep me warm. After i woke up i went to see if i could find any sort of food all i could find was so left over scraps of bread from nights before. Then headed out to the fields.
Once i got out into the fields i greeted some off the fellow peasants and serfs also working out in the fields. Then began the days working picking and planting cotton. I always worked extra hard so i could pick more and more cotton so i could have more for myself to sell and buy food with. Everyday when i am out working in the fields i ask my self if it will be smart to one day run away in search for a better life. I haven't come to the decision if i will or not but i always wonder about it.
When i finally get to come in at around 10:30 from working all day on the fields i bring the cotton i have am left with inside. Then take a quick nap ,then take the cotton to the market to sell. When i have the money i go buy my food. When i have the food i return home and eat a little meal and return to bed.
Finally at the very end of my long horrible day i lay in bed and pray. I am a very religious man and pray every night along with taking part in the sacraments. I like to pray because Christianity is one thing that is a positive in my life also its a way i feel i can still connect to my loved ones that i lost. Then i try and get some sleep for hopefully 4 or 5 hours.
SYLVIE KAVER 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Today father let us take our yearly bath. Father went first, then Jacob, Ryan, and Steven, then mother, and then me. When it was my turn the water was very muddy and dirty. Since today was Sunday we must go back to work tomorrow.
September 18, 986
We picked crops today. We have picked more than last year so far. We should get a good amount for ourselves.
September 19, 986
I couldn't sleep at all last night. I was very cold and couldn't stop coughing. I hope I'm not getting sick.
September 20, 986
Mother now has the cough too. Mine is getting better, but i think mother felt a little warm in her head. Hopefully she isnt getting a fever. When we go to church Sunday we must pray for her.
KARI REED
ReplyDelete5TH HOUR
September 17th, 986
Today my father and I harvested our crops. Harvesting crops is very stressful. The horrible thunderstorm last week greatly reduced the number of crops growing in our field. We have a good amount, but most of it we had to give to Lord Spaulding. After we gave him his crops, there wasn’t much left for my parents and I to eat through winter. I took a large load of crops to Lord Spaulding and he was very much pleased with us. As a reward, he gave me a small chunk of meat to take home. My father proudly nailed it to the door of our home, so that the others would see. An hour later, my mother went to take it off the door and cook it, but it was gone. We sat on the dirt floor of our home and ate raw vegetables and a slice of stale bread in silence.
October 29th, 986
It is raining outside. Our house is only one room with dirt for the floors, moldy wood for the walls, and straw for the roof. The rain drops easily flow it to the house, turning our floor from dirt to mud. My father and I brought our sheep and pigs into our home to keep them safe. Father’s bed is ruined, so tonight he sleeps on the mud with Mother and I.
November 1st, 986
My mother has become very sick. She has rashes everywhere and is hot to the touch. She gets very cold at night so my father and I sleep close to her to keep her warm. Now, as we lay on the muddy ground of our home, my father and I are sick too.
HANNAH HUSGEN 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17-
Today, being a surf, I woke up in my tiny, one room house and went straight to the fields. This is normal because I do this every day but Sunday. On Sunday, I go to Church. At church, I have a lot of fun singing, dancing, and talking to other serfs like me. For dinner tonight we got meat! This is so amazing because meat is a major rarity for peasants. Usually we get coarse, stale bread and dirty vegetables from our own gardens. The other day, my mom died from a disease. This happens to most serfs and peasants. Also famines cause lots of deaths, too. We don’t live very long. Probably because we spend all of our time working our butts off for the master. Well I’m getting really tired so I’m going to go sleep on my dirty floor. Hopefully tomorrow goes by fast.
LIBBY FRINK 7 HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17,986
Its been so odd living with my new husband compared to living with my family. I believe its been a month since our marriage. Thats why I have not been able to write in this journal for a while since I have been so busy with the marriage. As you can probably tell from previous marriages I married Jack. He is so sweet to me and makes me laugh often!
Soon we will began harvesting our crops. I will probably have to help. Unfortunately, we barely made the 10 bushel minum for the land lord. We will probably have just enough food to get us through the winter.
We will be trying to help our neighbors pick up the mess some other land lords army made in our community. They came in the other night and set a lot of farms on fire. We got lucky and only about 1/3 of our farm caught on fire. One of our friends, Jill and Paul, their land got destroyed completely! So we are going to help them through out the winter. Well i guess thats all for now! I will write later!!
TRAVIS MAIDEN 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
It is the end of the day as i write this...in a most discomforable place in this small living enviorment. My name is Montania. (Mon-tane-yia)
This is one of my first diary entrys in this small thing with paper, so I shall not be very skilled. The day has been a living hell, at the very beggining, it had been raining, so i awoke to find mud splattered in my face, now when i woke up the rain had stopped, so it was dry mud which inhabited the side of my face, my wife had this also, the kids as well, we just swipped it aside, as we had already had our bath weeks ago. I wish i could have that water again...though my wife did not come out as clean as i would imagine. Well, anyways..today we had to harvest the crops...well what was left of the crops and give most of it to our leader,Sir Reed. He is a very angry and bald man. The crops we tryed to present to him, he simply took them all, we had no crops for ourselves to sell or even eat. I miss the marriage we had, that was a more happier day, flowers everywhere, to be honest not to be just pretty but to just cover the stench of everyone...I miss those days.
September 18, 986
Remember the other day i had writted that it had rained? well it must had been a warning, as a downpour came across, we had to keep on stacking hay on the dirt ground to our small house...or shack, to keep the mud out, and so we didnt sleep in the mud. This lasted for several hours, luckily we didnt have to stack the hay so high. Well, today i actually got mugged in the small streets, for what i ask? I had nothing, may be they just felt like putting a beat on me for just being..a serf.
CHRISTIAN SCHMIDT 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteIts september 17, 986 on a tuesday. Today I woke up on my dirt floor early in the morning. i dont get to bathe or nothing, just straight to work. Im going to work from day to night.
I start off working in the lord's fields. I work till I can't work on more. i had farming and crops. I see poeple die from exhaustion everyday.
Our animals we have have to live with us. Our dogs are used as blankets and sleep with us. Our cattle stay on the roof. Our animals help us survive winter.
Its summer time now. It's time to get married and bathe. Its sunday so i don't work i stay in church. After of that there is one thing to look forward too. That is death.
JOHN ROBINSON 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
I was sent off to become a serf just a few days ago. I heard it was pretty rough but maybe I can tough it out.
Waking up this morning was difficult. I had a few bread crumbs and a chunky glass of milk. After breakfast I headed to the fields to water the crops with the storm buckets, which were filled from last nights storm. I had to work through darkness, through sunlight and back into darkness. Finally, I dinner late into the night. A slice of bread and some corn. I was starving! I would expect a little bit more for my hard-work. I didn't think I would make it through the night. The only thing to look forward to in this lifetime is death, than hopefully I have my spot into heaven.
September 18, 986
Today I wake up to fresh milk and eggs. I was told not to get used to this. The reason for it was the chickens hatched an outrageous number of eggs and the cows were producing to much milk to be kept so there was no other choice but to give us the extras. The day went good until it poured and my working boots gained about 10 pounds from all the mud sticking to the bottom of my shoes. After the work was done I had to clean and dry my shoes. It took quite a while but look brand new. I received dinner again late into the night. Leftover breakfast wasn't to good but it did the job. Overall okay day.
September 19, 986
Sunday has finally come. Religion is one thing I look forward to in life. Service to my God, one more step to a promising spot in heaven. In Mass, we prayed to our Lord about the prevention of diseases and the constant plagues. The preacher was telling us about the wine and how it was the lords blood. He preached about the rememberance of Jesus Christ and the celebration of the Mass reminds us about the crucifixion of Christ and that Jesus died for our sins.
When evening came we ate mostly bread. Our bread comes from the wheat we grow but, we have to take our wheat to the mill owned by the landlord who takes a portion to pay for the grinding. Occasionally, we supplement our bread with vegetables, milk, nuts, and fruits. When we receive permission we are allowed to hunt and bring meat to the table. This shows we have very little freedom in our lives. The landlord rules over all aspects of our exsistence.
Our life consists of work with no freedom. We live at the mercy of the landlord of the manor.
This is the life of an ordinary serf.
MEGAN DODD 7TH HOUR
ReplyDeleteSeptember 17, 986
Today is the day that I have my yearly bath. My husband and sons must go first, followed by myself, then my daughters, and then my baby boy. Last week when my dear friend Tersa had her yearly bath, she lost her baby girl in the water. I must be very sure as not to lose my baby in the murky water full of everyone else's filth.
It's also time to harvest crops to give to give to Lord Spaulding. We were kind of dry this year. Alot of the water in the well on our land was used up. I hope we have enough to feed our family..
My Uncle who is a serf died last week. He lived to be forty eight. That's a rarity in our land. Few remember who he is this week.
Last night it rained. It was raining extremely hard and the dogs and cats were in the roof. A cat fell on my husband while he was sleeping and scare him half to death.
Well thats another day in the life of peasant Megan.
Savannah Bates
ReplyDelete7th Hour
September 15,986
this morning i woke up to another hard day at work in the fields as a serf. I got whipped today for not doing my job correctly and no fast enough.
September 17, 986
I got engaged today and got to take my once a year bath!! It was great!!
September 20, 986
Early Sunday morning i woke up on the dirt floor with my pigs and chickens and went to church. i couldn't really here what the priest were saying...but i wouldn't have been able to understand them anyway.
Chloe Lopez
ReplyDelete7th Hour
September17, 986
Today i work all day farming my weat and im not sure if i made enough progress.theres not much to eat we get a few bread crumbs. the days are geting loger and im just push with the energy i have left.
September18, 986
Today i was beaten for not working fast enough but tomorrow i get my anual bath. i cant wait.
September19,986
i get to take my bath today and in a few weeks im gettting married.