Layout of a castle Many nobles lived in castles. The great hall was the centre of a castle and the walls were decorated with tapestries. Everyone except the lord sat on benches. There was a minstrel gallery for musicians and singers. At night, the servants slept on the floor. The great hall would have at least one fireplace with a chimney. This was a Norman invention and stopped the room filling with smoke. The lord had his own room, called the solar, and his own four-poster bed, with curtains for privacy. At the top of the castle, the lady would have a day-room for herself and her maids-in-waiting. This had the largest windows and the best views. After 1200, castles had panes of glass in the windows. The toilet, called the 'garderobe', was usually a chute straight into the moat. One way to capture a castle was to climb up the chute, keeping your fingers crossed that the toilet wasn't occupied! Life inside a castle A young nobleman would join the household of another lord. He would serve there as a page, learning how to carve and fight on horseback. He would then serve as a squire until he was about 18 years old, when he would go through a religious ceremony and become a knight. Meals had many courses. Each course consisted of many kinds of meats including swan, peacock, magpie, porpoise and boar. This was served on a thick bread 'trencher' and eaten with a knife and the fingers. Nobles ate few vegetables. If the lord was entertaining guests, he might impress them by gilding the food with gold leaf, or serving a pie full of live frogs. Contrary to Hollywood films, a tournament was usually a mock battle known as a melée. Knights did take part in jousts, but these only became common after the 12th century. Almost every lord loved hunting. Fashions became more extreme as time went by, and included huge sleeves, shoes and codpieces. Men's fashions were just as colourful and gaudy as women's. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, knights were obsessed with chivalry and courtship. In the Middle Ages people were divided into groups based on what skills they had, skills such as: carpenter cook doctor dyer - someone who coloured wool 1 friar - a religious minister knight lawyer merchant - someone who sold goods such as wine or cloth miller - made flour from corn monk nun ploughman - ploughed the fields for a living priest prioress reeve - supervised work done by peasants sailor soldier squire - local land owner who would be wealthy weaver Today, we often look at society in terms of wealth (rich and poor) or class (upper, middle, working). Medieval writers divided society into 'those who fight', 'those who pray' and 'those who work', which would you put in each category? You could group them like this: Those who fight Knight, squire, soldier. Those who pray Prioress, nun, priests, monk, friar. Those who work Merchant, lawyer, carpenter, weaver, dyer, tapestry weaver, cook, sailor, doctor, ploughman, miller, reeve. Dawn Morning Hear Mass, followed by a breakfast of white bread and wine. The lord would speak with his reeve, the general manager for his manor. His lady would perhaps do embroidery. Knights and pages would practise fighting. 2 10am Lunch was normally half-a-dozen simple dishes, but if the lord was entertaining guests there would be many more dishes as well as entertainments such as jesters, fools and jugglers. Afternoon Hunting or hawking, or chess and backgammon if the weather was bad. Late afternoon Prayers, then a meal. If there were guests, this would be magnificent. After supper Listen to the news and stories brought by a travelling minstrel, or just sit and talk. Bedtime When the lord decided he wished to go to bed, the household would have a light supper, say prayers and go to sleep. A medieval town would seek a charter giving it the right to become a borough. The rich merchants would then be allowed to choose a mayor and hold a market. Houses were made of a wooden frame, with the gaps filled with woven strips of wood, known as 'wattle', and covered, or 'daubed', with clay and horse-dung. Most roofs were thatch. Medieval shops were workshops, open to the street for customers, with the craftsman's house above. Because few people could read, shops signs were a huge model showing the craftsman's trade. People of the same trade often worked in the same street. The streets of a medieval town were narrow and busy. They were noisy, with the town crier, church bells, and traders calling out their wares. There were many fast food sellers, selling such things as hot sheep's feet and beef-ribs. Nobody was supposed to carry a weapon or wear a mask. At dusk, a bell rang for curfew, when everyone was supposed to shut up their house. The gates to the town would be closed, and a watch would patrol the streets looking for thieves, and apprentices who had stayed out late. Criminals were put in the stocks or the pillory. These were wooden boards with holes for feet, hands or head. Medieval punishments were cruel, and crimes such as theft were punished by hanging. In November the poor of the town would elect a 'lord of misrule', who would wear a paper crown and get up to mischief. At Christmas poor people would go round town demanding traders give them charity. Holy Days would be marked by colourful processions, as the different guilds competed to make the best display. 3 If a serf ran away from his village to a town and remained free for a year and a day, he could become a 'freeman' of the town. A day in the life of a medieval town 4am The bell rang to announce the first Mass of the day and the end of the night watchman's duty. 6am Shops and market stalls opened. 8am Foreign merchants were allowed to start trading. 9am Breakfast. 3pm Most shops and market stalls closed. 8pm Curfew Bell. Town gates closed, houses shut up, the night watch began. In the early Middle Ages, under the feudal system, the life of a peasant was hard: Even in the later Middle Ages, the medieval peasant's life was hard and the work back-breaking. It followed the seasons – ploughing in autumn, sowing in spring, harvesting in August. Work began at dawn, preparing the animals, and it finished at dusk, cleaning them down and putting them back into the stalls. A peasant's hut was made of wattle and daub, with a thatch roof but no windows. Inside the hut, a third of the area was penned off for the animals, which lived in the hut with the family. A fire burned in a hearth in the centre of the hut, so the air was permanently eye-wateringly smoky. Furniture was maybe a couple of stools, a trunk for bedding, and a few cooking pots. Many peasants' huts included a simple loom, which is a device used to weave cloth. The daughter would spin wool using spinng tools known as a distaff and spindle, and the wife would weave it into rough cloth. Peasant food was mainly vegetables, plus anything that could be gathered – nuts, berries, nettles. The usual drink was weak, home-brewed beer. Honey provided a sweetener. If he ate bread, the peasant did not eat white wheat bread, but black rye bread. The most difficult time was late spring, when food stores were running out, and new food was not yet growing. A poor harvest meant that some of the villagers would starve to death. A male peasant would wear a rough tunic, with a hood and gloves, and leather shoes with wooden soles. Women wore a coarse gown over a sleeveless slip. 4 Towards the end of the Middle Ages, when some peasants were growing quite rich, 'sumptuary laws' forbade them to wear clothes above their class. Village life was not all misery. Holy days meant a day off work. Peasant fun was rough – wrestling, shin-kicking and cock-fighting. The ball was almost unnecessary to a medieval ball game, which was basically a fight with the next village. Occasionally a travelling musician or bear-baiter would pass through. Literature, art and architecture in the Middle Ages Whilst the Middle Ages are often known for war and sickness, there was a wealth of artistic expression. Typically the remaining evidence reflects the life and experience of the wealthiest classes. Consider why that might be the case. Literature in the Middle Ages Books were often written in Latin or French. A famous example is The History of the Kings of Britain written by Geoffrey of Monmouth around 1136. The historical accuracy has been disputed but it did create the popularity of such characters as Arthur and Merlin. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is perhaps the first popular English work. The tales are a collection of stories from the late 1300’s. The book forms a story-telling contest by a collection of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. Together they provide an insight into medieval life. Gerald of Wales (c.1146-c.1223) wrote, sometimes bluntly, about the history and geography of Wales and Ireland based on his extensive travels and we can learn much about people’s lives and beliefs from his works. The most widely available book was the Bible but it was very expensive as each copy was handwritten by monks. Books were therefore normally held only by nobles and the church. Art in the Middle Ages Illuminated writing to decorate books was popular. Stained glass windows and wall murals were widespread in medieval churches. They illustrated Biblical scenes and would have been a marvel for ordinary people. Tapestry was popular among wealthy noblemen. It displayed heraldry and Biblical sense. At the same time it was useful way of insulating and decorating a draughty castle. Architecture in the Middle Ages The most common surviving examples are castles and churches. Made to last by the wealth of nobility and religion many examples survive today. For example, ‘Fountains Abbey’ in Yorkshire dating from 1132. Gothic architecture was used for many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also seen in many castles and palaces. 5 Gothic styles were revived in in England in the 1800s. The Houses of Parliament, by Sir Charles Barry, is a high-profile example. Intellectual, cultural, and artistic developments Major themes: Cultural flowering in the West during the medieval period in areas such as religious thought, architecture, and sculpture; transmission and sharing of ideas via art, learning, and scholarship, both within and between Islamic and Christian worlds. Unit 8: Intellectual developments of the Middle Ages • Literary and written resources • Establishment and development of centers of learning – Paris, Bologna, Oxford • Muslim engagement with the classical heritage – translations, commentaries, original works • Transmission and impact of classical ideas from the Islamic world to Western Europe • Christian scholarship – role of monasteries, cathedral schools • Christian scholars – Peter Abelard, Roger Bacon, William of Ockham, Thomas Aquinas, Hildegard of Bingen, Adelard of Bath, Robert Grosseteste • 12th century renaissance • Developments in science – medicine, cartography, philosophy Unit 9: Artistic and cultural developments of the Middle Ages • Influences on, and of, Christian and Islamic culture, religious buildings – Rome, Compostella, Canterbury Cathedral, Vezelay • Cultural activities – festivals, rituals, calendars • Philosophy, literature, and poetry – Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, Christine de Pisan • Calligraphy, manuscripts, and books • Art and sculpture How did advances in farming lead to an overall change in Medieval life? What is the major difference between the feudal states of the Middle Ages and the emerging national states of the Renaissance? Pohnpei has discussed one of the key themes in the transition out of the Middle Ages into the Renaissance and Early Modern Era: the centralization of power under the monarchies. Indeed, political decentralization and fragmentation represents the definitive feature of the Feudal Power Structure. However, this raises an additional question: what caused European monarchies to start centralizing power in this fashion, or perhaps better phrased, what was it that enabled them to create these more centralized political structures? Ultimately, the Medieval and Early Modern State was was closely tied to war. The requirements of Medieval warfare was at the heart of the Feudal System to begin with. Consider that, under the Medieval military structure, the Nobility served as the warrior class in society, and any given army was ultimately defined by the lords to call upon their various vassals, who themselves could often call upon their own forces. This was a fundamental rule which extended all the way up to the level of Kings. From this fundamental dependency came the so-called Feudal Contract, and what emerged was the decentralized Feudal System. In this system, monarchs ultimately relied on the cooperation of their vassals, who could themselves draw 6 upon the military resources of their own vassals, and so on down the chain. By the start of the Renaissance, this old military structure was beginning to break down. Consider the impact of gunpowder, which acted as a democratizing force on the battlefield and would come to undermine much of the Nobility's traditional role as a warrior elite (by the Early Modern Era, they would have taken on a new military identity, emerging as the new officer corp, responsible for overseeing and commanding the commoners who served as soldiers). In the Renaissance, warfare was becoming increasingly focused around mercenary companies, which themselves would later be replaced by the large Standing Armies of the Early Modern Era. This evolution eliminated the dependency which had previously chained Monarchs to the interests of the Nobility, which both enabled and incentivized monarchical centralization. Warfare and statecraft are very closely tied. 7
