Keeping Warm. The fire pit in the center of a peasant house served as the sole source of heat, the cook fire, and the primary light source. Maintaining it was crucial and an ongoing chore. If the fire died out, it had to be restarted either by using embers borrowed from a neighbor or with a flint and steel, a relatively valuable tool. In the fire pit the peasant built a small pile of highly flammable objects, including materials such as dry grasses, tiny pieces of wood, or old scraps of cloth. When a spark flew off into these objects, the peasant coaxed it into flame by blowing on it and gradually feeding slightly larger kindling to the flame until a usable fire was achieved. Wood, however, was an exhaustible resource, and peasants were generally entitled only...