# Medieval refugees' options.



## wantanmee (Jun 22, 2014)

Hi everyone.

I need to know what common options refugees displaced by war, plague, or famine would have in the medieval period other than begging or whoring.

From my preliminary research, I gather that medieval peasants rarely venture out of their locality. I may be wrong, but somehow this gives me the impression that they would rather hunker down and die horribly where they were born rather than seek greener pastures elsewhere. But for argument sake, let's say the prospect of an oncoming doom (barbarians, zombies, etc.) is unsettling enough to make them leave their villages in droves. How would they rejoin civilization? Are they allowed to rebuild on any available stretch of land? Do Kings or Lords forcefully evict them from such illegal settlements?

I know that men can serve as serfs for other Lords and work on their lands and mines for little more than food and board. Turning into outlaws is also another way. However I am mainly interested in what happens to the women and children. Say there is a woman refugee with several young children but no men left in the family on account of having been lost to the crisis. Would the Lord still let her have a plot of land to work on? Maybe just a small one at the edge of the village enough for a cottage and a simple herb garden where she can make rent by brewing remedies and elixirs?

Economically speaking, I would think a Lord would welcome any large influx of workforce and start bequeathing land left and right in the expectation of larger profits, but then again, it might present more problems to his reign. I don't know. What do you think?


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## Greimour (Jun 22, 2014)

Had large response but think it was mostly useless for you.

It depends on the area... if you are using specific regions that exist, then Persia would be different to England and America wouldn't really be optional unless your story is really at the very very end of the medieval period. The era of discovery marked the end of Medieval period in (15th?) century? ... The most commonly approved beginning of what is _now_ America would be 1492 by Columbus. 

But, if it is a fictional story with fictional places and it is only the Era being used... then it is much simpler, you can draw facts from history or you can take a single instance and make an entire people out of it.

Genghis Khan and his brothers, Mother and sister had to survive without protection of their tribe following the death of his father. They should never have survived, but they did.  His father had been chief but they wouldn't be ruled by boys so young (Temujin, later to be known as Genghis, was around 12 and the third born son. They refused to follow him and kicked the family out of the tribe.) 
~ Normally they would kill the family to prevent problems in the future, but they didn't for whatever reason and that's why we have his history today.
~ They made makeshift huts and hunted with crude bows and sticks and stones... they survived. Temujin killed one of his half brothers over hunting spoils and cemented his position as 'head' for their little family. They survived and they grew... and they grew strong.

My point is, they survived the wild and it's easily an option you can run with.

There is debate over the truth of Robin Hood ever having lived, but their is little to no doubt acknowledging the existence of people living in forests that were not bandits. The merry men in essence but really just people who lived off the fat of the land. Literally. 

***

A womans job back then was believed to be the housewife. They belonged at home whilst the men belonged in the field (if you are using peasants only at least)
However... women probably did more than men.
~ Fed the lifestock
~ Mended clothing 
~ Made clothing 
~ Weaving/Spinning
~ Milked the animals
~ Cleaned

Imagine a farmers wife today and you wont be far wrong with the medieval wife. Remove technology and nothing has changed really. The point is, a peasant woman could easily change village and still have good chance for finding room and board. Or else work for money without whoring (alewife was one such income possibility)
*
I don't know what the belief is regarding medieval women, but they were not as likely to marry as many would believe. The percentage of marriage was a surprisingly small number. Many were servants. . Some servants helped with crafts in homes and/or nursed the children of their master. Their main jobs were to clean, cook, and do all of the other domestic work... men weren't the only people able to find employment on another masters land.

***

Children.
~ State run Orphanages. Though the greater portion of orphans still had a mother (just no father) the church set up orphanages in the 1st century and Medieval age was what, 5th-15th century? Orphanages were very much alive by then. 
~ Boys were much like men, they could find work from a very young age and could do so in twice as many places as a capable woman. The employers knew that the boys would grow into young men and eventually be stronger and more able than the women. It wasn't a bad option to raise a boy how you would like him to be - to prepare him for whatever duty you had in mind for the adult version of the same boy. Options are as large as there are jobs for men.

***

The hardest one is orphan girls... besides orphanages, I have no clue what they could have done to survive. 

***


As with all things in life. It comes down to the character/s.
What they are brave enough, courageous enough or willing to do in order to survive. 
~ Steal a chicken?
~ Fish in the river?
~ Band up with street urchins?
~ Find a crook to fence gear you've stolen?

Depending on your story and the fictitious elements, you could have them become assassins. Paid blades and cut-throats. And that is option for all without home/land/work... Man, Woman, Child (boy-girl)

Your story will allow for anything you want to happen. You just have to say 'this is what they did' and that becomes the truth. Even Novels based on history will embellish and lie to make it interesting. Depends on so many factors but really, you don't have to limit yourself too much. As long as it is believable it doesn't have to be something that would have really happened.


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## Morkonan (Jun 22, 2014)

wantanmee said:


> ... Would the Lord still let her have a plot of land to work on?



No. 

First of all, she's a woman. What's she going to do, nag the crops into growing? Sure, she could do some work, but it's going to take a man to do the real work. Maybe she can find a suitable husband amongst the peasantry... If not, then she'll have to leave.



> Maybe just a small one at the edge of the village enough for a cottage and a simple herb garden where she can make rent by brewing remedies and elixirs?



Is she a witch? What sort of magical potions is she going to be brewing? Sure, there are fold remedies that many people already know about, but what are these strange things she's doing? Moss and such on a wound? Smacks of deviltry to me... And, where did she get this advanced knowledge of arcane practices? 

Nobody is going to give her any desirable land. No Lord is going to parcel out land to a strange new peasant who likely deserves whatever fate she's been faced with. It's possible she might find some sort of temporary refuge with the local chapel. But, all in all, the local Lord and his magistrates would probably want her gone as soon as possible.



> Economically speaking, I would think a Lord would welcome any large influx of workforce and start bequeathing land left and right in the expectation of larger profits, but then again, it might present more problems to his reign. I don't know. What do you think?



Refugees would be seen as being locusts, demanding all and producing little. No Lord is going to think lightly about parceling out land to these new peasants - It's the Lord's responsibility to see that they're cared for and fed! How many Lords are going to accept even a hundred refugee peasants that they will be responsible for at the expense of their already entrenched peasantry? They've got families of peasants that have served them faithfully for years, how are those peasants going to feel when these upstarts arrive and receive shares of land to work or are accepted under the Lord's good graces without proving themselves?

As Greimour said, you can do whatever you wish. Maybe you want to have a "good" Lord accept these peasants? Maybe the other peasants know of their Lord's kindly nature and approve? Or, maybe he's a Lord who simply wants to take advantage of this young woman who has no other choice but to submit to him in order to provide for her young son? 

Do what makes for the most interesting story! If you're writing historical fiction, then read up on it. I've read several books by these authors and they were well-written and very informative. I suggest you take a look at offerings by the Gieses -   (The "Life in a Medieval ___ " series is excellent!)

Added: 6/23 - Because it appears that some people do not appear to be able to understand this post, I must insert this disclaimer: I am attempting to communicate my impression of what the prevailing attitudes of the gentry would have been towards peasants and women in the Middle Ages. I am NOT trying to insult women nor am I a male chauvinist pig or a bigot... If you do not like the comments in this passage, please PM "The Middle Ages" to voice your concern. Alternatively, you can report them by clicking on one of their posts... (IF you follow my directions start looking for a member named "The Middle Ages" in order to complain or decide to send a PM to a Moderator in order to issue a complaint regarding them... Oh, come on, just don't, OK?  You can, however, issue complaints about me, if you wish. That's fine, I don't mind. But, please, blame the Middle Ages for some of its treatment of women.) Additional Note: It may be surprising that there were a few good things the Middle Ages did for women, but not a whole bunch. Unless, "getting thee to a nunnery" is viewed as an extra-special treat...


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## wantanmee (Jun 23, 2014)

Thanks guys. Sorry for being vague about the location. My story is set in a fictional kingdom based on medieval europe, 13th century onwards maybe. I'm not imagining the woman as a witch exactly. She just has some knowledge on how to utilize natural herbs. I guess the church in that period might view it as witchcraft, but I haven't decided what religion or deities would come in to play in this story yet.


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## wantanmee (Jun 23, 2014)

Oh, read this on wikipedia. It would be what my little widowed family is striving for. Still not certain if it would be feasible without a man in the family though.

"A villein (or villain) represented the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and higher status than the lowest serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen. Villeins generally rented small homes, with or without land. As part of the contract with the landlord, the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields. The requirement often was not greatly onerous, contrary to popular belief, and was often only seasonal, for example the duty to help at harvest-time.[citation needed] The rest of their time was spent farming their own land for their own profit."

its funny how the word 'villain' turned out to become antagonistic in modern times. What did the little farming people ever do to deserve it?


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## Gargh (Jun 23, 2014)

One thing to note... poor women in all times work at something in addition to the home, in medieval times it would have been bits of anything they could, _including_ land work, but for which they would be paid less than the men. This could provide an interesting economic conflict for your story if you need it. The men who were primary breadwinners would likely resent the women working, who would be cheaper. It's possible that prejudices about their quality of work against the seasoned men's would have also created resentment. How things change eh? Women, immigrants, youth... whatever the reason, capitalist or feudal model, they like to play us off against each other!


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