The 13th and 14th centuries saw a tremendous growth in commercial activity, and a consequent restructuring of society. In Manor Lords, this translates into upgrading families from their level 1 Burgage plot to the respectable level 2.
To upgrade your citizens to level 2, you need to fulfil their requirements. Those are separated into Amenities and Market supplies.
Amenities are the basic requirements everyone needs: water and access to God. Okay, everyone needed in the 14th century 😉
To fulfil those, you need to build a Well on a water vein and a wooden Church.
The market supplies are all basic requirements to this day still: Fuel to keep warm, Food to keep our bellies full and Clothing to avoid having to run to the market naked.
Fuel is proved by the woodcutter or, later on, by a Charcoal Kiln if you invest the development point that way.
Food is sold on the market by berry gatherers and hunters. If you extend your plots with a backyard garden or chicken ren, carrots and eggs will be available too.
Clothing might be a little trickier to figure out, as it doesn't have a clear production building. Luckily, the in game pointers make sure we don't have to turn our settlements into nudist resorts.
Medieval peasants and workers wore mostly basic, functional clothing made from linen, wool and leather. In our starting villages, that last one will be the resource used for clothing.
Hunters who have caught wild animals, turn them into 2 different resources: meat and hides.
Their meat will be sold on the market as a food source for your families.
The hides are not very useful on their own. But, building a Tannery nearby will change that.
The tanner family will collect the hides, process them into leather and sell that on the market.
The leather will then be bought by (let's assume) women who will in turn create the clothing their family needs.
Once all 5 requirements are fulfilled and you have the necessary resources to upgrade the house (4 timber), you are ready to upgrade the house to level 2.
Aside from generating money for you, this doesn't change much yet. But, level 2 families can be turned into artisans, which will unlock different goods needed for advancing your settlement.
It's always a good idea to upgrade your plots if and when you can. The money they bring in is needed to build backyard extensions like farms and chicken rens, as well as acquiring new oxen for your transports.
Upgrading in itself doesn't change anything for the families living there. It's only once you turn them into artisans, you will need to replace their original place of work with a new, level 1 family.
Leather isn't the only available option to satisfy the need for clothing. You can also supply them with Linen or Yarn. Both of these are produced by the Weaver's Workshop.
Yarn in spun from sheep's wool. To raise sheep, you'll need a pasture and import sheep. It's not like Anno games where you just plop down some pastures and sheep magically appear... To learn more, read this guide on Yarn.
Linen is produced from Flax, which is grown on farm fields. Production of this takes at least a year, if you even have the proper fertility available in your region.
So yes, both products will supply your families with the necessary goods to make their clothing. But you probably won't be able to use them in the first year, as opposed to leather.
