Peasant facts for kids
A peasant is a name for a person that worked for others on a farm and never had much money. They usually wore rough clothes and lived in small houses.
The word peasant came from the French word for "country" in the medieval era (15th century). In feudalism peasants, like other farmers, had to be able to do a number of jobs on the farm. They lived in rural areas and made up a large amount of the population. Most peasants could not read or write. They did not usually talk with the higher society unless it was about work. Some were serfs meaning they were not free to leave their lord's land.
Male peasants were not the only ones who worked in the fields. Their wives and other woman also worked in the fields if necessary. Female peasants usually did women's work in the house such as cooking, cleaning, making clothes, and looking after children.
Images for kids
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Young women offer berries to visitors to their izba home, 1909. Those who had been serfs among the Russian peasantry were officially emancipated in 1861. Photograph by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.
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Finnish Savonian farmers at a cottage in early 19th century; by Pehr Hilleström and J. F. Martin
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"Feiernde Bauern" ("Celebrating Peasants"), artist unknown, 18th or 19th century
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Portrait sculpture of 18th-century French peasants by artist George S. Stuart, in the permanent collection of the Museum of Ventura County, Ventura, California
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See also
In Spanish: Campesino para niños
