five in the morning
`` I do not believe , '' says Mr Froude , `` that the condition of the people in Mediaeval Europe was as miserable as is pretended . I do not believe that the distribution of the necessaries of life was as unequal as it is at present . If the tenant lived hard , the lord had little luxury . Earls and countesses breakfasted at five in the morning , on salt beef and herring , a slice of bread and a draught of ale from a blackjack . Lords and servants dined in the same hall and shared the same meal . '' ` When we arrive at the system that displaced Feudalism , we find that the condition of the workers was better in every way than it is at present . The instruments of production -- the primitive machinery and the tools necessary for the creation of wealth -- belonged to the skilled workers who used them , and the things they produced were also the property of those who made them .