There were two types of peasants; serfs, and free peasants. The serfs, especially, had many difficulties in feudalism. These peasants had barely enough food to live on, or anything else. The free peasants had less than all of the other social classes, except for the serfs. The free peasants had to pay rent to live "free", and also had to pay for most things (such as getting married, or collecting water). Even though they were "free" they still were controlled by the higher classes. The serfs got to live on the farms with the knights. The knights were there to protect them. The majority of peasants lived in houses which also housed the animals of the village.