CHAPTER IV
THE PEASANT'S YEAR
LET us now turn to the actual day-to-day operations which
medieval agriculture made necessary, and let us consider
for convenience the task confronting a manorial peasant,
who, as we have seen, had his strips in the common fields. In
those parts of England where the two-field system prevailed he
found himself working on one field during one year while the
other field lay fallow, and the next year vice versa. In those areas
where the three-field system was in vogue, one field was planted
in the autumn with wheat (and perhaps rye) as its main crop,
another with oats, vetches, or barley in the following spring,
while the third field was fallow. The next year the fallow field was
used for wheat, the first for oats, etc., while the second field
rested. The third year completed the cycle, and in this elementary
fashion men sought to keep their land fertile. It was a wellnigh
impossible task, for the number of species they had at their
command was very limited: wheat, oats, rye, barley, vetches,
beans and peas were the main crops; ro<Tts and artificial grasses
were unknown, so that any serious rotation of crops which would
give the ground a chance to recover was impossible.
The peasants were even worse off than their lords in this
respect, for not only had the lord the unrestricted right to the
manure of his own herds, but he had also zjusfaldae—a right of
folding all the manorial sheep (and sometimes all cattle) on his
own lands. This privilege he sometimes was able to exercise for
a limited period only, but on some manors he could exercise it
throughout the year. The lord's shepherd, therefore, was ex-
pected to see to it that his master's fold was moved about from
place to place on the demesne, and also to report any peasants
who were so bold as to keep their sheep on their own holdings.
The privilege to do this could be got only by a cash payment.
Cattle markets and fairs were also a welcome aid in fertilising
the ground, but here also the lord usually insisted that these