Life on a Manor

Life in the Middle Ages centered around the manor, or large estate, of a feudal lord. The wealthier lords lived in large castles, but most lived in manor houses. The size of a lord’s manor house depended on his wealth. Clustered around or near the castle or manor house  where most of the serfs and freedmen were the huts and shops of the and freemen who worked for the lord. Together with a chapel and a mill, these structures made up a small village. Beyond the village were the lord’s fields, pasture land, and woods for hunting. Most manors in the Middle Ages were laid out in this fashion.