People without a permanent place to live in or a fixed place to work at, where called vagrants. Vagrancy was forbidden, so one had to find some work to do. It could be dangerous to wander around without a place to stay at or to be without work. A person who hurt a musician or some other vagrant was not punished as severely as if he had harmed a peasant.
People who were casually employed at a farm were called casual workers. They were employed for shorter periods, for six months or perhaps a year. At the manors of the nobility extra labourers were often needed. One needed people to milk, stable boys, smiths, bakers, servants and maids. A well-to-do farmer needed farm-hands and maids as well. The wages were agreed upon from the start. A man would earn twice as much as a woman. The master had the right to beat his employees, but was not allowed to cause them permanent injures. When the workers were no longer needed, their contracts were not renewed. Then they had to go somewhere else to find work.
The casual workers and vagrants had insecure lives. When the peasants and noblemen were travelling, they often met people looking for work.