For the vast majority of medieval Europeans—about 85%— work meant farming. Peasant women worked alongside men doing almost exactly the same jobs in the fields. Some more physically demanding jobs such as plowing were at times more likely to be performed by a man than a woman.

Female peasants in the Middle Ages led lives of grueling, multifaceted labor that combined domestic duties with heavy agricultural work. Within the home, they were responsible for spinning wool, weaving cloth, sewing garments, preserving food, and brewing ale—tasks that were vital for the family's survival and often provided a small surplus income. Outdoors, their labor was nearly identical to that of men; they worked in the fields during the harvest, weeded crops, sheared sheep, and tended to the kitchen gardens and livestock. They were also the primary caregivers for children and the sick. Despite their essential contributions to the manorial economy, women were legally and socially subordinate to their husbands or fathers. Interestingly, women were the primary brewers of ale (known as "alewives") until the industry became more commercialized. Their work was governed by the seasons, with summer and autumn requiring dawn-to-dusk labor in the fields to ensure the community had enough food to survive the winter.