Knights Journal Part 5
5th Page
You MUST have a TITLE for EACH of the Journal entries.
Your Knight has arrived at their new Lord’s Manor. You have many tasks ahead of
you.
Introduce yourself to your Lord; be sure to describe how your Knight would exhibit
the proper use of Chivalry during this meeting.
Describe the Manor be sure to include the Castle (you MUST have at least FOUR
defense features) also describe two other areas such as: Manor House, Solar,
Church, Serf House, and any defense features that will help make the Manor a safe
location.
Describe at least TWO people that your Knight might encounter in his Lord’s Manor.
This could include but is not limited to: knights, priests, serfs, or servants
Explain about the farming that would take place on a medieval manor. Be sure to
describe the crops grown and the jobs of the people involved.
YOU DECEIDE…You Lord’s castle comes under attack will the castle win or lose?
A king (or lord) ruled large areas of land. To protect his land from invasion, the king gave parts of it to
local lords, who were called vassals. In return, his vassals promised to fight to defend the king's land.
Vassals ruled lands granted to them by their king. Those lands were called fiefs. Within a fiefs, a vassal
acted as a local lord and could give portions of it to vassals of his own. Someone might be the vassal of one
person, but the lord of another.
Knights were warriors who fought on horseback. In return for land, they pledged themselves as vassals to
the king. Only the sons of lords could become knights. Candidates for knighthood began training as pages
at the age of 7, learning social graces and skills such as fencing and hunting. At 13 or 14 they became
squires and began to practice fighting on horseback. Squires served as assistants to knights both in the
castle and on the battlefield. At 21 a squire could become a knight himself, kneeling before the lord of the
manor to be "dubbed" on the shoulder with a sword. Kings, local lords, and knights were all part-of a ruling
class that called itself noblemen.
Noblewomen were the wives and daughters of noblemen. They were in charge of the household servants
and supervised the upbringing of children. They also helped take care of the sick and the poor. In certain
cases, noblewomen themselves could own land. They could inherit it from their parents or from their
husbands. When a nobleman was away, his wife ruled the manor. This meant that the noblewoman, if
called upon by her lord, could send knights into battle, just as a man would.
Bishops were the leaders of the church, serving under the pope, the bishop of Rome. Most bishops were
noblemen. Bishops supervised the church's priests, monks and nuns and administered its business. In many
parts of Europe the church owned vast areas of land and commanded a large number of knights. In the early
Middle Ages, it was not unusual for a bishop to lead his own knights into battle.
Priests provided spiritual instruction and conducted religious ceremonies in local, or parish, churches.
Monks and nuns were men and women who gave up their possessions and left ordinary life to live in
monasteries and convents. They lived very simply, could not marry and devoted themselves to prayer,
study, and helping the poor. They also served as doctors.
Serfs lived in small communities called manors that were ruled by a local lord or vassal. Most peasants
were serfs. They were bound to the manor and could not leave it or marry without the manor lord's
permission. Serfs did all the work on the manor farm: they worked the fields, cared for the livestock, built
and maintained the buildings, made the clothing, and cut firewood. Men, women, and children worked side
by side. Serfs had small plots of land they could work for themselves; sometimes a serf saved enough
money to buy his freedom and became a freeman.
Servants were peasants who worked in the lord's manor house, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundering,
and other household chores.
Merchants set up businesses in the towns that began to grow in the later Middle Ages. The most
commonly traded items were salt, iron, and textiles. There were also rarer items, such as silk and spices,
that came from the trade with China and the Middle East. As trade grew, a new class of highly skilled
crafts- people developed. These artisans produced cloth, shoes, beer, glass and other goods that required
more expertise than was available on many manor farms.
Medieval Farming
Interesting history, facts and information about the life of the people
who lived in England during the Medieval times
Medieval Farming - Feudalism and Rural Life
The introduction of feudalism fostered the movement from town to country, for feudalism, rested on
the soil as its basis. The lord, his family, his servants, and his retainers were supported by the income
from landed property. The country estate of a lord was known as a manor.
Medieval Farming - The Manor
A manor varied in size, according to the wealth of its lord. In England perhaps six hundred acres
represented the extent of an average estate. Every noble had at least one manor; great nobles might
have several manors, usually scattered throughout the country; and even the king depended on his
many manors for the food supply of the court. England, during the period following the Norman
Conquest, contained more than nine thousand of these manorial estates.
Medieval Farming - Common Cultivation of the Arable Land
Of the arable land of the manor the lord reserved as much as he needed for his own use. The lord's
land was called his "demesne," or domain. The rest of the land he allotted to the peasants who were
his tenants. They cultivated their holdings in common. A peasant, instead of having his land in one
compact mass, had it split up into a large number of small strips (usually about half an acre each)
scattered over the manor, and separated, not by fences or hedges, but by banks of unploughed turf.
The appearance of a manor, when under cultivation, has been likened to a vast checkerboard or a
patchwork quilt. The reason for the intermixture of strips seems to have been to make sure that each
peasant had a portion both of the good land and of the bad. It is obvious that this arrangement
compelled all the peasants to labor according to a common plan. A man had to sow the same kinds of
crops as his neighbors, and to till and reap them at the same time.
Medieval Farming - Farming Methods
Medieval Farming was very backward. Farmers did not know how to enrich the soil by the use of
fertilizers or how to provide for a proper rotation of crops. Hence each year they cultivated only twothirds of the land, letting the other third lie "fallow" (uncultivated), that it might recover its fertility.
It is said that eight or nine bushels of grain represented the average yield of an acre. Farm animals
were small, for scientific breeding had not yet begun. A full-grown ox reached a size scarcely larger
than a calf of to-day, and the fleece of a sheep often weighed less than two ounces.
Medieval Farming - Three field system of Agriculture
Manor lands were therefore farmed using the three-field system of agriculture. One field was
devoted to winter crops, another to summer crops, and a third lying fallow each year. The land was
worked by peasants.
Medieval Farming - Farm Tools
Farm tools and implements were few and clumsy. The wooden ploughs only scratched the ground.
Farrowing was done with a hand implement little better than a large rake. Grain was cut with a
sickle, and grass was mown with a scythe. It took five men a day to reap and bind the harvest of two
acres.
Medieval Farming - Common Land
Common Land - the common use of the non-arable land. Besides his holding of farm land, which in
England averaged about thirty acres, each peasant had certain rights over the non-arable land of the
manor. He could cut a limited amount of hay from the meadow. He could turn so many farm animals
such as cattle, geese, and swine on the waste ground. He also enjoyed the privilege of taking so much
wood from the forest for fuel and building purposes. A peasant's holding, which also included a
house in the village, thus formed a complete self-sufficient unit.
Medieval Farming
The Medieval Times website provides interesting facts, history and information about these great
people and important historical events which scatter the Medieval History books including Medieval
Farming. The Medieval Times Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts about
the fascinating subject of the lives of the people who lived during the historical period of the Middle
Ages. The content of this article on Medieval life and times provides free educational details, facts
and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework for history courses
and history coursework.
Castle Defenses
A castle was built to withstand attack from enemy. Castle builders added many defensive features to
make their castles difficult to attack. Many castles were built on high ground with clear views of the
surrounding land.
Starting with timber castles, castles evolved throughout the centuries to build better-elaborated strongholds.
Before the XII century, most castles were made of timber and wood; by the end of the XII century,
however, there was a much higher need of protection, hence stone castles.
Besieging a castle was a very difficult task and very frequently, a failed attempt. As castles evolved, so did
their defense. When moats were introduced, invading a castle through force was a much harder task.
Instead, besieging it was very common. Castle's walls were very effective in halting the invaders. Some
walls were wider than 30 feet; thus destroying them was very hard, even after gunpowder was invented.
Even when the moat and the first line of defense were breached, most castles still had another two lines of
defense including the keep, which was the last defensible spot. Castles with more than two lines of defense
are known today as concentric castles. Archers were situated on top of the walls, firing at their victims who
took shelter behind trees or anything they could find in order to save their own lives. After bows,
crossbows were introduced; severely improving the efficiency of a castle's defense.
Most castles used siege weapons to defend themselves. The most common was the catapult which was
placed on a square or round tower to fire at the invaders who would also use siege weapons to destroy walls
and launch dead animals to spread diseases to the defenders. Even though huge walls were needed to stop
projectiles, there was even a bigger problem to worry about. Food was the biggest problem for the
defenders for too much food meant spoilage whilst too few meant death. Most bigger castles had farming
land in the interior, but the smaller ones had a very serious problem to worry about.
When there was not enough food, defenders would normally surrender or find another way out. Many
castles had secret passageways which led to the exterior. They were normally used after the situation was
critical due to the very big risk of leaving their only defense.
If, instead, support arrived when a castle was being besieged; the invaders would be in a very serious
problem because of a double-front battle. Normally, the defender's army would attack at the same time as
their relievers. Making the invaders in a serious disadvantage.
It is important to note that castles were normally built on top of a hill, near a river or on a very defensible
position. They were additionally frequently built near an important town because of the castle's advantage
of having an ongoing trade route and military support.
Castles were gradually useless when gunpowder was introduced. A very strong castle could last no more
than a week when being subject to such devastating weapons. Still, we can see today the wonders of our
ancestors and what they did to defend themselves.
Archer loops
Archer loops were small holes placed on a wall giving an archer a very good advantage. They were
normally placed on towers since the height also influenced the effectiveness of an archer. Different shapes
were made to help the defenders have a better angle when shooting at their victims; additionally, the
attackers could only fire arrows back because no other projectile could fit in the hole.
Towers
Towers were very important in defending a castle. Their taller height helped the archers tremendously, they
could fire easily at their targets; but their targets couldn't fire back.
Many different shapes existed. The most common ones were:
Round towers:
They were the stronger kind of towers. Their height averaged 80-120 feet; much bigger than a normal wall.
Even though they were more expensive to build, they were stronger; thus their enormous use.
Square towers:
Square towers were somewhat cheaper to build. Nevertheless, they were considered to be much more
decorative. Though strong, they were somewhat weaker than round towers because of their design.
Against ladders:
When attackers would attempt to climb a wall, they would be met with all sorts of creative ways to stop
them.
Boiling water:
Defenders would throw boiling water at their victims; making the fall. This was a very deadly way to stop
the invaders' progression; the only downside was that getting boiling water was not very easy. Fire was
used and it took a while. If the invaders attacked continuously, the boiling water wouldn't last and other
ways to stop them were used.
Sand:
Allures usually contained great amounts of sand within them. When boiling water was over, defenders
would throw sand at the invaders. Even though unbelievable, sand seldom made the attackers fall to their
death. The effect of sand on an armor was incredible since it made it very uncomfortable.
Rocks:
Rocks would be thrown at attackers. Though not very useful, they could knock down an invader--or two.
Other:
When the attackers were still climbing the wall, and there were no other resources left; defenders would
throw at them whatever they could find. This includes furniture, water, weapons, helmets, stones, animals
and everything at the defenders' disposal.
As an additional resource, most castles had an enormous array of traps available to make the invader's job
even harder. Such traps often inspired fear into the attackers who were skeptical about attempting to enter
the castle itself.
What happened after a castle's fall?
Normally, if the defenders surrendered, the invaders would either take them prisoners, let them go to
another province or simply kill them.
There are many records of invaders accepting to let the defenders go, just to kill them right after they leave
the castle. Nevertheless, most of the time, invaders were nice by taking prisoners to be released after the
battle was completely won.
The castle itself could be taken over by another lord, or it could be pillaged and abandoned. It was up to the
army's commander to decide if the castle was suitable for his cause--or not. Normally, word would reach
the country's king in a matter of days, and he'd send an army to take back the castle just before the invaders
had a chance to strengthen it.