Social Structure
In the middle ages the social structure was a little different then it is now in
days the king could have been very powerful or not powerful and poor, their
lands were divided into fufs and given to rich men and women, who were called
dukes and duchess, they swore to the king that if he needed them they would
help him. Their lands were divided and ruled by counts, they swore to there
dukes that if they needed their help they would help. The counts lands were
divided and ruled by farmers, they also swore to the counts that if they needed
help they would help them. The social stricter was like a pyramid the king on
the top and the farmers on the bottom. the dukes some times thought that they
were just as powerful as the king and when the king asked him to do
something they would ignore him, the king let it go some times but other time
he started a war to get him to listen. When the king needed an army he would
send the dukes out to get the counts and the counts out for the farmers and
the farmers out to the village to get men for war.
B(y Sarah K.)
KNIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Knights were fighting men in the middle ages. They were covered with many
layers of heavy armor and they could plow through foot soldiers standing in
their way.
There were only a few ways to become a knight. Knights were often the sons
noblemen. When a boy was eight years old, he would become a page. Pages
learned to fight, use weapons, ride horses into battle and their basic manners.
Pages had a strict rule of conduct. A few of the page’s rules were that when
they enter the lord of manner's room, they have to say "good speed" to him,
they have to greet everyone, keep their head up, have an easy pace, and always
bow to the lord.
At the age of fifteen or sixteen, the next and second step to becoming a knight
was becoming a squire. A squire was similar to the knight’s assistant. Knights
could have many squires assisting them. A squire continued to learn rules,
manners, and how to behave properly. His duties included dressing the knight
in the morning, serving all of the knight’s meals, caring for the knight’s horse,
and cleaning the knight’s armor and weapons.
Finally, at the age of twenty, the man became a knight after proving himself
worthy. In the middle ages, knights were usually wealthy noblemen and owned
a great amount of land. The knights were wealthy because they had to pay for
their protection, buy the expensive horse, armor, shield and weapons.
Knights believed in the code of chivalry and behaved according to the code.
Knights promised to be brave in battle, keep their promises, defend the church,
and treat noblewomen nicely and with respect. Our good manners today come
from the code of chivalry of the knights in the middle ages.
(By Leeat)
Food
During the medieval times, people had to find ways how to store food
without refrigerators. Instead they used barrels to store meat and fruit. Some
people stored the meat and the fruit together.
At a banquet you have to have proper manners. There were rules on how
they should eat and where they sat. A banquet was made up of six courses.
They made and stored food in different ways. For chicken, fish, and
turkey for example they soaked up the blood from the meat , soaked it , dried it
and stored it fin a barrel. Fruits and vegetables were pickled. They flavored the
fruits and vegetables in brine or vinegar. During the winter the meat was salted
in huge wooden vats. Vats are large vessels to hold things in. Some castles had
honey bees to sweeten foods and drinks. Some families had water channels
strait to the kitchen. Channels are a trench or a furrow.
How did they make yogurt? They took regular milk and leave it on the
counter on a warm day. Then it will get all lumpy. To make cheese you use
different kinds of bacteria in the milk. It lasts up to four to five years. They
make cheese the same way as we do today.
Large castles had fish ponds, orchards,and vine yards.
They use the same siverware as we do today.
(by Mikela)
Clothing
People in the middle ages had different styles then we do today. They
wore lots of animal fur and fine cloths. Just like us their style changed all the
time. We don’t have that many pairs of cloths from the Middle Ages because
most of them have decomposed but we know what they used to wear from
paintings by artists in the middle ages. Clothing was very important because it
determined your position.
Most men’s clothing were very heavy! Can you imagine running around in
about ten pounds of clothing. Men usually wore sported hoses and pleated
skirts. Men wore leather shoes with pointy or square toes. Men wore lots of
clothing.
Women wore very elegant clothing. They would wear flowing gowns to
the floor. They would also wear tall fancy hats. “The taller the hat the richer you
are”. Women never wore pant, it was considered a disgrace. Some women would
pluck their fore head to make it look taller. It was considered beautiful. Women
were very modest.
Children and servants wore similar clothing. They would wear stockings
and tunics. The women and girls would wear sleeveless tunics and long gowns.
They would also wear wimples to cover their hair.
If you were wealthy you would wear different things. You would wear
brighter colors, better materials, animal fur, and longer jackets. You could tell
that they were wealthy. Most wealthy people also wore jewelry. They would
mostly wear pins and necklaces.
Nuns would wear white and black only and holy people usually wore
longer jackets. The people in the middle ages dressed very differently then we
do now.
(by Sarah H.)
Medieval Castles
Medieval castles were built for the safety of a lord. People started by
making castles out of wood, but they were too weak so they started building
castles out of stone in 1100 B.C. around the castles were thick walls with
buildings inside of them.
The location of a castle was on top of a hill for protection. Around the
castles were moats that contained a ditch filled with water, trapes, and sharp
spikes. There was a bridge across the moat rosined and lowered for protection
called the drawbridge. Behind the thick walls around the castle was a large
storage space that kept the floor, wine, and gain. There is a space in the castle,
the Barracks were the knights and their families lived. A passage way was built
connecting the lord’s home and keeps called the great hall. Inside the castle
was a chapel which was built inside the lords house or another built and it held
religious services. At the gates of the castle was a gatehouse, and a building
used by the guards.
(by Ariel)
Games and Entertainment
What do you do when you are bored? Or perhaps when you want to relax
or have extra time on your hands? Many of us reach for a book, others enjoy
the outdoors, and some of us are plain old game junkies!
Some games were created back then to benefit us now, and some we
never even heard of till today. I bet we all know the game Chess or
Backgammon, or Hazard. Why? Because they were played back then and have
been popular over ages till now. Archery, Football, and wrestling were popular
common pastimes. Little children had little dishes, whistles or dolls to amuse
themselves when they weren’t working. For every age or any interest, there has
always been something for everyone.
At banquets for the king and queen, there would be jesters, a fool
who does comedy… mummers, masked or costumed merrymakers, or acrobats
and jugglers to entertain them. Royalty entertained large crowds of beautifully
attired men and women at costumed balls and lavish parties, and there was
always a spirit of gaiety, laughter, and fun for all.
Some games, though, were not as innocent and sweet. Some were pure
evil. In fact, these “games” played at festivals could and did get out of hand. A
common sport or entertainment for these royal banquets was Bear Baiting. Bear
Baiting was when a wild bear would be brought to the palace, have all its body
defense weapons ripped out, such as their claws and teeth, and would be
chained to a pole, blinded, and fight ferocious dogs without mercy. Spectators
lived for this excitement, to see who would survive the horrifying struggle.
So there, you have it, the ups and downs of entertainment for our
ancestor’s way back.
(By Mushkie)
Crusades
Three very strong religions claimed the holy city of Jerusalem. The Jews
wanted it because their holy temple created by Solomon was located there, and
G- d had promised it to them. The
Muslims claimed it because Mohammed
ascended to Heaven from the holy city.
They also believe that G-d promised it to
them through Ishmael. The Christians
claimed it was theirs because Jesus was
crucified in that very city, and he ascended
to heaven from there as well.
In 600 CE the Arabs conquered Jerusalem and took complete control. For
years Jews and Christians were allowed to enter, and live in the holy city as long
as the obeyed the law. In 1905 the Arabs closed the city to all the Christians
and Jews. This made both the Christians and the Jews extremely upset.
The pope decided that he would have none of it
gathered a group of 30,000 Christian men and
and
started
his first crusade. The crusade’s goal was to
recapture the holy city of Jerusalem. The crusade’s
symbol
was the Red Cross. Their flags, uniforms, armor etc.
had a
red cross somewhere located on it. The Christians
had
captured Jerusalem but not for long. Less than 50
years later the Arabs recaptured Jerusalem once
again.
The Pope still had not given up, he sent another group of crusaders who
conquered Jerusalem in 1147, and fell in 1149. Jerusalem now yet again was in
the hands of the Arabs. Another group of crusaders was on their way to reconquer Jerusalem. They had successfully captured 1189, and in 1192 it was
re-conquered by the Arabs!
The 4th crusade group had different intentions. They attacked
Constantinople and stole all the Arab goods so they would have enough money
to attack the Arabs in Jerusalem. This went on from 1202-1204.
In 1212 German and French children started a crusade believing that
because they were children G-d
would help them. They were
wrong and that cost many of the
children their lives.
These unsuccessful crusades
continued for 70 years. In the year
1291 the Christians had given up,
and stopped sending crusaders.
(By Sapeer)
Accomplishments in the Middle Ages
The middle ages had many accomplishments, some which we still use,
while others are old but still brought something for us today.
Justin's Code was one of the many accomplishments in the Middle Ages.
When King Justin became king he made a few laws which were called the Twelve
Tables. Justin's Code saved all the old laws and put in new ones. One of the
examples is a person is innocent until proven guilty.
Trade was another one of the accomplishments. When the crusades
returned home they brought back with them silk, food, and just about anything
else. The people had a question, how could they get these items. The answer
was trade. To trade you needed good ships that would carry your purchase,
people to do the trading, you needed storage, something that you could trade
and a market place to sell your items.
Big castles were first built in the Middle Ages. The reason for these
castles was for the protection for the Lord for he always wanted a way to defend
himself. The castles were built to defend. They were first made out of wood but
they were to easy to burn so later on they started building them out of stone.
They were usually built on top of hills so that the guard could see the people as
they walked into the castle and were able to defend themselves better.
Guilds was a great accomplishment for the people in the middle ages.
Guilds would allow people to have space between another person with the same
job and so nobody with the same job could come and take over another
person's job. Guilds also gave parties for the members. The guilds also had
very strict rules that you needed to follow.
Stained glass is all over nowadays and was one of the accomplishments in
the Middle Ages. Many people in the Middle Ages wanted the most beautiful
cathedral and so they put colored glass as windows. The windows told religious
stories and helped the people because not a lot of people could read so they
would allow people to know about their religion.
The plow was first discovered in the Middle Ages but as time went on it
got bigger and better. In the Middle Ages the plow helped planting become
much easier. The plow would go deep in the soil, and would make deep line of
furrows and would push the soul off to the side. They put the seeds into the
whole and water would run through the furrows and the crops would grow.
By BasSheva