they were also forced to work, daily forced to give up large shares of their crops, forced into military service at the lords will, and if they so much as made eye contact with a noble they were forced into a dungeon where they would be left to starve as long as the lord sees fit for whatever minor infraction. you cannot compare the lives of peasants in the past to today. there is no accurate way to do so. even the poorest american or european lives like a king by comparison.
United States