Many medieval families lived in poverty. The peasant farmer, in particular, worked long days and had little to show for all that work. The fourteenthcentury English poet William Langland once described the peasant farmer as "a poor man, badly dressed, dead tired from work, shivering in a hovel, who lived life in the most extreme misery."

The typical village family's cottage was a reflection of their poverty. Most cottages had two or three rooms: one for cooking and eating, one where the entire family slept, and perhaps a third that served as a storeroom and barn. Sometimes animals slept in this room during the winter. Although their body heat was appreciated by the family, the animals left their odor. To help mask the offensive smell, packed-dirt floors were covered with straw and occasionally sprinkled with an ordinary spice to sweeten...