Medieval Life

By Sarah

Life During the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages is sometimes hard. Most of the time was spent working the land, and trying to grow enough food to survive another year. Church feasts marked sowing and reaping days, and occasions when peasant and lord could rest from their labours.

Social activities were important, and every citizen in a medieval town would be expected to attend. 

Medieval superstitions held sway over science, but

travelling merchants and returning crusaders told of cultures in Asia, the Middle East and Africa that had advanced learning of the earth and the human body. Middle Age food found new flavour courtesy of rare spices that were imported from the East. Schools and universities were forming across Western Europe that would help medieval society.  

Medieval women

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Women in the Middle Ages (a period of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century) occupied a number of different social roles, including those of wife, mother, peasant, artisan, and nun, as well as some leadership roles, such as abbess or queen regnant.

The very concept of "woman" changed in a number of ways during the Middle Ages and several forces influenced their role during the period.

Medieval House Medieval houses had a timber frame. Panels that did not carry loads

were filled with wattle and daub. Wattle was made by weaving twigs in and out of uprights. Hazel twigs were the most popular with Medieval builders. After the wattle had been made it was daubed with a mixture of clay, straw, cow dung and mutton fat. When it had dried, a mixture of lime plaster and cow hair was used to cover the surface and to seal the cracks.

The shaping of stone was difficult and expensive. Stones were therefore used sparingly. Stones were sometimes placed at the corners of buildings and around windows and door openings. Bricks were also very costly and in the Middle Ages they were only used to build houses for the very rich.

Medieval Food Medieval foods and diets depended much on the class of the individual. For those living in

the manor house, there was a wide range of foods available. Fowl such as capons, geese, larks, and chickens were usually available to the lord and his family. They would also dine on other meats; beef, bacon, lamb, and those living close to water may have regularly dined on salmon, herring, eels ands other fresh water fish. Fish would either be sold fresh or smoked and salted. Wealthy society could afford large quantities of milled flour and other meals made from grain. Dairy products such as cheese and butter could be seen on the manor table.

Medieval peasants, on the other hand, had a much simpler diet available to them. Most of the wheat they harvested went exclusively to the market, and peasant breads were made from barley and rye, baked into dark heavy loaves. Ales made from barley would quaff the thirst, as would water drawn from the well, sweetened with honey. Peasant society got what little proteins they could from peas and beans that would be added to bread and pottage.

Medieval Men Medieval men in society was not dictated so much by gender, or even by which

nation they lived in during Medieval times. The main factor that decided where a man’s (or usually for that matter, a woman’s) place in society was wealth, because wealth dictated your position on the social hierarchy. It is from a position of wealth, or lack of it, that dictated a man’s place in Medieval society. For the common peasant, life during Medieval times was hard, brutal, and usually short.

The common man had a strong, steadfast belief in God, in the basic virtues of

Christianity (as much as he could understand it since scripture was read in Latin), but yet the Devil seemed to be hiding in every alley and behind every tree to force evil, and droughts were not sad pictures on a television screen, but life threatening situations. A man would need to work the land, pay any taxes or any necessary to the noble that ruled over the area, and fulfil any other responsibilities demanded of him.

Medieval Knights The knight is one of the most recognizable images from the

medieval period, but becoming a knight was not as simple as putting on a suit of armour.

When the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, invaded England, they needed men to protect their lands. Initially, young men took oaths to provide service and sometimes fight for a lord or nobleman. Overtime, these men in service began to amass wealth and acquire their own land allowing them to pay for the supplies necessary to carry out military campaigns and have their own men-at-arms. Before long, knights were a class of nobility all to themselves.

A knight’s training began at an early age. At age 7 a boy would join with a knight becoming a page. This page would serve the knight until he became a squire at age 14. While the squire was still a knight’s assistant, he would learn how to fight, wear armor and to act like a knight. Then when the squire turned 21, he would become a knight.

Medieval Weapons

In the medieval period, as with any period in history, the weapons of the day were a product of the available technology and raw materials. Arguably, one of the greatest weapons of the day was the castle, but when one thinks of weapons, the thought is usually of the more offensive devices. To that end, the most popular and perhaps the most frequently discussed weapon is the sword.

Virtually every knight would have a sword. Swords were easy to

construct and easy to use. Forged from steel and sharpened, the sword could be used both offensively, to attack, or defensively, to block other attacks. It was also available in many sizes and styles. Knives and daggers were also used and sometimes fashioned from wood or animal bones

Reference

www.Google.com/images

www.Wikipedia.com

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDhouses.htm

http://www.medieval-life.net/food.htm

http://www.medieval-period.com/medievalmen.html

http://www.medieval-period.com/medievalknights.html

http://www.medieval-period.com/medievalweapons.html

http://www.toledosword.com/im/Medieval_Knight_Jousting_Suit_of_Armor.jpg

http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/medieval_castle_Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg

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