There were three classes in Medieval society. The nobility
comprised about three percent of the population. The clergy were
another five to ten percent (depending on location). The rest,
some ninety percent, were "the commoners." Not all the commoners
were poor, a few percent were merchants and the like, some as
rich as lords. About 10-15 percent of the commoners lived in
towns and cities, while the rest them lived on, and worked, the
land. Although it varied from country to country, about a
quarter of the commers were serfs , one step up from slaves. The
rest were free to one degree or another and many owned the land
they worked. Because of generally good (warm) weather from the
10th through the 13th Century , the lack of any major wars and
improvements in farming technology , there had been something of
a population explosion in Europe. As a result, by the early 14th
Century, many farmers were working marginal land. Many others
were working smaller farms than had their grandfathers. Thus
there was less marg