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The Medieval Child, Part 6 |
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Teens
at Work and Play
In Part 5 of our series, we looked at various forms of education for medieval teenagers, particularly university and apprenticeship. But not all adolescents went to school, and those who did were not wholly consumed by learning. Many teens worked, and just about all of them played.
Teens in peasant families were most likely to work instead of attending school. Offspring could be an integral part of a peasant family's income as productive workers contributing to the farming operation. As a paid servant in another household, frequently in another town, an adolescent could either contribute to the total income or simply cease using the family resources, thereby increasing the overall economic standing of those he left behind.
In the peasant household, children provided valuable assistance to the family as early as age five or six. This assistance took the form of simple chores and did not take up a great deal of the child's time. Such chores included fetching water, herding geese, sheep or goats, gathering fruit, nuts, or firewood, walking and watering horses, and fishing. Older children were often enlisted to care for or at least watch over their younger siblings.
At the house, girls would help their mothers with tending a vegetable or herb garden, making or mending clothes, churning butter, brewing beer and performing simple tasks to help with the cooking. In the fields, a boy no younger than 9, and usually 12 or older, might assist his father by goading the ox while his father handled the plow.
As children reached their teens, they might continue to perform these chores unless younger siblings were there to do them, and they would most definitely increase their workloads with more demanding tasks. Yet the most difficult of tasks were reserved for those with the most experience; handling a scythe, for example, was something that took great skill and care, and it was unlikely for an adolescent to be given the responsibility of using it during the most pressing times of harvest.
Work for teenagers was not limited to within the family; rather, it was fairly common for a teen to find work as a servant in another household.
Next Page > Service > Page 1, 2, 3
If you missed our earlier features, please visit Part 1 of our series.
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