For safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farmland. These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms. In this feudal system, the king awarded land grants or fiefs to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops, in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies. At the lowest echelon of society were the peasants, also called serfs or villeins. In exchange for living and working on his land, known as the demesne, the lord offered his peasants protection.
             Nobles divided their land among the lesser nobility, who became their servants or vassals. Many of these vassals became so powerful that the kings had difficulty controlling them. By 1100 A.D., certain barons had castles and courts that rivaled the king's; they could be serious threats if they were not pleased in their dealings with the crown.
             In 1215 A.D., the English barons formed an alliance that forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. While it gave no rights to ordinary people, the Magna Carta did limit the king's powers of taxation and require trials before punishment. It was the first time that an English monarch came under the control of the law.
             Peasants worked the land and produced the goods that the lord and his manor needed. This exchange was not without hardship for the serfs. They were heavily taxed and were required to relinquish much of what they harvested. The peasants did not even belong to themselves, according to medieval law. The lords, in close association with the church, assumed the roles of judges in carrying out the laws of the manor.
             It should come as no surprise that women, whether they were nobles or peasants, held a difficult position in society. They were ...