However, what is often missed in the depictions of peasants is that they were much stronger than modern folk, they did kill animals quite often, they did fight other peasants quite often.
Free peasants were a different story from bound peasants, mountain peasants a different story from low lands.
I know because my grandparents were peasants from a mountainous region, you did not want to mess with those peasants.
I could go all they about the acts of aggression, strength and bravery I've witnessed (same on the contrary).
Such a peasant would not fight in pitch battle, but would simply burn their crops, take their cattle and sheep up the mountain and return in autumn when armies would go back home. They would setup ambushes, mostly targeting guides, but they were quite opportunistic.
It was remarkable reading Xenophon's account of fighting mountain people in ancient times -- while I did feel his disgust for them, the sense was that they could be quite dangerous when fighting on their home turf.