March

Springtime has arrived and it's time to prepare the fields for planting. The peasant in the foreground is plowing with a pair of oxen.  Three peasants on the left are preparing the vineyard.  Behind them may be a shepherd with sheep and a dog.  Another peasant is preparing seed for sowing on the right.  In the background is Chateau de Lusignan home of Duc de Berry who commissioned the work.  Under the old calendar, March was counted as the first month of the year.


In England the fields were made available to all villagers for their use in planting crops and grazing cattle and other animals.  In the early 1700s a system of enclosure emerged which fenced land and did away with common grazing ground.  It ensured the rights of private, wealthy land owners and forced many people to leave villages and go on the road to work for wages.

Château de Lusignan