... whom which the un-free serf was ever indebted to. The serf was under the obligation to perform numerous labor duties for the Lord while maintaining his own piece of land and consequently, pushing the limits of his physical and emotional well-being. He was left with little pay for his duties and the amount of land he received from the lord was usually insufficient to maintain a descent quality of life for him and his family. The living conditions of serfs were very basic with only rudimentary living essentials available to them. Their houses were usually made of mud and straw mixed in with upright twigs for the walls, and the roof was thatched leaving little or no ventilation.1 The serf and his family made many of their own utensils and other tools required for survival and some of these are outlined in the summary by Lord Ernle: In the long ...

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