The medieval period was a fairly long ordeal with large differences over both time and place. Life post-black death in Europe, for example, included a heighten

The medieval period was a fairly long ordeal with large differences over both time and place. Life post-black death in Europe, for example, included a heightened QoL for many as population density was lowered. Many peasants in Europe had their own plot of land but also had to spend some time working his lords' fields. Often the lords had to supplement this with paid work - peasants did not particularly like giving away their labour for free and as such did not work very hard. My source is Patrick Wyman's podcast "Tides of History". He has a PhD in history. He has a Substack also: https://patrickwyman.substack.com/ https://patrickwyman.substack.com/ and another great podcast, "The Fall of Rome". I cannot ensure that my assertions hold for all of Europe :-).