Our Medieval CastleThis castle was built by students in the Atlantic Home School Assistance Program. We have been learning about the Middle Ages, which went from about 800-1500AD.

Early Castle Construction

• The first castle were built around 950 AD.• Most were built between 1050 and 1350.• They were built on high hills.• They always had a wall around them.• The rise of the feudal system made more castles.• When a lord received land he quickly built a castle

to protect it.

By Chase, Cory & Seth

Feudal System

Peasant Life

• Peasants didn’t own much.• They did all of the work in the castle, they

served the noblemen.• They took care of the animals and did the

cooking and gardening.• They never had a day off.• They ate mostly stale bread, onions, turnips or

a little cheese.By Kassidy

Peasant Life

Houses for workers A field of vegetables

Peasants

Barns with cows and sheep Village homes next to a river

Peasant Life

• Falconry• In the Middle Ages people took their falcons

everywhere they went.• Falcons were used for hunting small prey.• The job of a falconer was to train and take care

of the falcons.• To train a falcon

– The falcon got used to being carried and fed

– A rope was tied to it and it flew after bits of food

– Then it was able to fly freely– After all that, it would kill small prey and

bring it back• The falcons were kept in a mew.By Mitchell

Stables• There were four main types of horses in

the Middle Ages.• Destrier - in the Middle Ages these were

well bred highly trained stallions. They were used at war or tournaments. They were a little like modern dressage horses.

• Palfrey- It was a well bred horse that was bred for general purpose riding.

• Courser - The most common horse used in warfare. They were bred to be long winded horses and didn’t cost as much as Drestriers.

• Rouncy – These horses were used for working or riding. They were also called hackneys, which is where our word “Hack Horse” comes from.

By Mariah

Peasant Life

Hunting• The kennel boys took care of the

hunting dogs.• The Lymer sniffed out the prey while

the other dogs chased it.• The dogs were kept in luxury kennels.• They were better fed and more

comfortable than the kennel boys who looked after them.

• Poachers were not allowed to kill any creature even to protect their crops.

• If they were caught they were penalized.

By Chase & Seth

Peasant Life

Peasant Life: Your Job is Your Name

• Smith: a metalworker • Cooper: someone in charge of casks for storing

beer or wine• Constable: high-ranking official• Granger: someone in charge of the barn or

grange that stored grain• Salter: someone in charge of salt production• Butler: from the word “bottler,” in charge of the

wine cellar

Peasant Life: Even More Jobs• Ladies-in-waiting• Laundress• Baker• Brewer• Carpenter• Huntsman• Gardener• Reeve• Bailiff• Carter• Privy cleaner• Servants to clean the castle• Seamstress• Entertainer

• Juggler• Jester• Steward• Taster• Pantler• Butler• Ewerer• Carver• Cupbearer• Mat Weaver• Spinner• Groom• Sweeper• Falconer

Peasant Life: The Kitchen

• Cooks prepared the food, sometimes for up to 200 diners.

• Trenchermen carried and served the food.

• A spit boy turned the spit to roast meat.

• People ate off of hard pieces of bread called trenchers instead of plates.

• Food was eaten with your hands or maybe a spoon.

Peasant Life

• Servants and blacksmiths took care of the horses.

• Blacksmiths made horseshoes.

• Armorers built and repaired the weapons and armor.

Medieval Health

• There weren’t many doctors in the middle ages.

• Those few were not real doctors.• They believed in using astronomy – relying on

the stars - and whether the patient lived or died was God’s doing.

By Heather

Medieval Health

• They believed in four liquids in the body.• These were blood, yellow bile, black bile &

phlegm.• If you had too much of one liquid you would get

sick.• Doctors used blood letting to release the excess

blood that they thought was making a person sick.

By Heather

Protection

Castle Guard• This is where the knights

slept and armor and weapons were kept.

• They slept on straw pallets.

Protection

Dungeon• Dungeons were in the lowest

part of the castle.• They were dark.• The prisoners were fed moldy

bread and water.• Sometimes family members

would bribe the jailer to bring prisoners blankets or bread.

By Cory

Protection

Guillotine• The guillotine is when a

sharp blade chops off someone’s head.

• Dr. Guillotin invented the guillotine.

By Kassidy

Protection

Battlements Crenels & Merlons• The top of the castle had

openings called crenels• The sections of wall in

between were called merlons.

• Together they formed the castle’s battlements.

• Knights could drop boulders or boiling oil on attackers from up there.

Protection

Drawbridge Moat

Knights

•Knights were often second or third sons of Dukes or Barons.•Before a boy could become a knight, he had to be a page, helping to serve food and stuff like that.•After a boy had been a page for several years, he became a squire. A squire was like an apprentice knight. He would help the knight to put on armor, and he would also train to be a knight.•Knights served and protected the nobility. They took a vow to serve the king. •Knights fought with swords, lances, and the occasional mace or ball-and-chain. •Sometimes knights had jousts where they fought with lances to practice, show off, and provide entertainment. By Hannah

Knights

Tournaments• Tournaments were held from the 12th

to the 14th centuries.• Tournaments were used to practice

for war.• They helped knights get better at

fighting.• They were also entertainment.• They gave Lords and Ladies the

chance to show off their wealth.• Even though tournaments were for

practice knights still sometimes died or got hurt.

By Cory

Nobility

The Keep

Life of Nobility

• The Lord and his Lady are at the top of the feudal system.

• Being a child a noble usually meant you got traded to a relative when reaching a certain age.

• Boys would learn to be pages when sent away.• Girls would go to learn how to be a wife.• Marriage was usually arranged while children were still

babies.• Girls married at age 14.By Michalla

Life of Nobility

• Kings gave land to nobles, in exchange for their loyalty and help in war.

• One of the Lord’s jobs was to check to make sure everything was going right with estates and tenants.

• If the king summoned the Lord he had to go right away.

By Michalla

Nobility

Solars Banquet Hall

Nobility

Garden Front view of the keep

Nobility

Running the Estate The Lord’s Personal Organizer• The Estate Steward helped

the bailiffs make sure the estate ran efficiently and that the taxes were paid.

• Because people got bored with salted food, food was highly priced and the steward kept it under lock and key.

By Heather

Coat of Arms•Noblemen gave their coat of arms to their descendants.•They put them over everything.•Girls used their father’s coat of arms till they married.•Girls would combine their coat of arms with that of their husband to create a new design.•Boys used a variation of their father’s depending on where in the family they came.

By Heather

Life of Nobility

• The Lady’s important job was to make sure they had enough supplies & food.

• The Lady watched over the upbringing of the children.

• She also gave overnight guests a room and entertainment.

By Michalla

The ChurchMost castles had a church or a chapel.People went to church every Sunday and many went every day to pray and worship.

The chaplain or priest was many times the only one who could read and write in the village. He would end up keeping records for the castle and teaching the pages how to read.

Some people became saints if something unusual happened to them, like dying in an uncommon way.

The word ‘holiday’ comes from the medieval word ‘holydays.’ People enjoyed celebrating these holydays by putting on plays or going to church.

By Angela