Medieval Times
The fun stuff!
Castles
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Provide the defenders with an advantage against any army that
dared to attack.
Castles also provided other psychological benefits. A peasant who
was often reminded of his safety by looking at the castle everyday
was more productive than one who lived in constant fear.
Castles successfully stopped the Viking Age, in a way, because
they eliminated the element of surprise which the Vikings depended
so greatly on.
Some castles were enormous providing yet more psychological
benefits. When William the Conqueror built The Tower of London,
he did so to remind the English of his rule while he traveled to
Normandy.
Castles-Tower of London
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Took 200 years to build-1078-1285
Has a moat!
Used for military purposes, to house
royalty, and used as a jail, a place of
execution, a treasury, a zoo, a public
records office, an observatory, and even
the home of the Crown Jewels of the
United Kingdom
Castles-Tower of London
Castles-Tower of London
Castles-Tower of London
Castles-Bothwell Castle
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One of Scotland's finest medieval fortresses can be found at
this castle, built in the 13th century. Thick walls made of red
sandstone rising 60 feet high makes Bothwell one of the
largest stone castles in the country.
Dominated by a large, round keep, this medieval castle is
separated from the courtyard by a parapet and a ditch. For
14 months, Scots, under the leadership of William Wallace,
laid siege and retook this castle from English occupying
armies.
An army of 6,800 men and massive medieval siege engines
were needed to retake Bothwell Castle. It was abandoned
until the later Middle Ages when restorations were carried
out.
Castles-Bothwell Castle
Castles-Bothwell Castle
Castles-Pembroke Castle
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Pembroke Castle became a powerful medieval fortress late in
the 12th century, and is one of the largest castles in Wales.
Pembroke's enormous round keep is one of the largest in
Wales and is topped with a stone dome.
This castle's massive walls are nearly 20 feet thick and it's
towers rise five stories high. During a Civil War siege
Cromwell unsuccessfully tried to destroy the Barbican Tower.
Much of the castles other structures, however, were heavily
damaged.
Pembroke has a medieval dungeon tower that includes an
"oubliette." This horror was simply a hole in the ground,
where prisoners were abandoned to die.
Castles-Pembroke Castle
Castles-Pembroke Castle
Medieval Diseases
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Wounds and injuries were the
main reason medieval society
sought the services of a
doctor, these physicians also
treated a variety of ailments
and disease.
Rough wool worn close to the
skin by peasants led to
numerous and widespread
skin diseases. Scarcity of
fruits, vegetables and proteins
needed for a healthy diet led
to maladies of the intestinal
tract and scurvy.
Medieval Diseases
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Winter was especially hard on medieval society, as cold,
drafty dwellings led to numerous cases of deadly pneumonia.
Even when the weather was warm, improper sanitation made
typhoid a constant problem.
Mental illness was also widespread during the Middle Ages.
Injuries received to babies during the birthing process often
led to brain trauma. Little could be done for these people, but
there were no institutions for them and many were accepted
into society. Others, however, would have crosses shaved
into the backs of their heads, or be tied to pews in the church
in hopes that mass would bring them relief.
The Black Death….Bubonic Plague
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A medieval nightmare-a time of horror. Imagine
walking down the street, and every fourth person
you saw would die within three years. The Black
Death, ravaging medieval Europe from late 1347
through early 1351 wiped out nearly one-fourth of
the continent's inhabitants. Medieval cities fared
much worse. With their narrow streets making
transmission of the disease much easier, nearly
half of the populations of some larger cities
perished from this epidemic.
The Black Death….
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The Black Death's origins were from Asia,
where it decimated the population there as
well, and was brought to Western Europe
along trading routes, first arriving in Sicily in
1347. This disease was brought by
merchants and spread primarily through
rats and fleas.
The Black Death….
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The disease attacked
lymph, respiratory and/or
circulatory systems and
there was nearly a 100%
mortality rate for those
infected. The Church's
stranglehold on society left
many feeling that this was
a plague from God, and
that doctors would be of
little use.
The Black Death….Ring Around the
Rosie…Pocket Full of Posies
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The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their
origin in English history . The historical period dates back to the
Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when
the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The
symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a
ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were
filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to
the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term
"Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death
rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of
London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which
was transmitting via water sources. The English version of "Ring
around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent
sneezing was another symptom of the disease. We recommend the
following site for comprehensive information regarding the Bubonic
Plague.
Medieval Torture-Dunking
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Dunking is a form of punishment that was mainly reserved for
supposed witches. The victim was tied to a chair which was
elevated or lowered by the torturer. If he noticed that the victim was
going to pass out, he elevated the chair. When he needed
information and the victim was unwilling to cooperate, he lowered it.
This method was widely used during the Spanish Inquisition and in
England and France. The victim was usually intermittently
submerged for many hours until he or she revealed information or
death occurred.
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While witches were commonly tortured using this method, thieves
and murderers could be subject to it in order to extract a
confession. This was more common when other more sophisticated
torture devices were not present.
Medieval Torture-Whipping
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Whipping, was very common in Rome. It was still in use
during the Middle Ages most notoriously in the army where
whipping was a very common form of punishment.
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Some authors call whipping "half death" because the amount
of people who died from it, caused by an infection, lack of
blood or damage to an organ, was a very significant
percentage. The whipping generally occurred against the
victim's back, but when a more severe crime was committed
his chest could be whipped, which was especially dangerous
and painful.
Medieval Torture-Pillory
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The pillory was used to publicly humiliate a victim. Even
though it was meant as a mild form of punishment, the crowd
sometimes made it lethal.
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The pillory often served as a post for whipping. When the
victim was restrained with the device, he was completely
defenseless and subject to the crowd.
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In many cases the crowd threw harmless objects such as
vegetables, but when the victim committed a serious offense
they threw stones or other heavy objects. The crowd often
humiliated the victim by cutting his hair or putting marks on
his body.
Medieval Jousting
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A joust is defined as a fight
between mounted knights
wearing armor and using
lances.
Jousting was a favorite form
of entertainment during the
Middle Ages.
Jousting contests took
place at Medieval
tournaments which provided
a venue for Knights to
practice various forma of
combat to the delight, and
for the amusement, of
crowds of onlookers.
Medieval Jousting
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The tournaments kept the knight in excellent condition
for the role he would need to play during medieval
warfare - skill with weapons and supreme strength and
fitness were necessary to knights of the Middle Ages.
Tournaments were exciting and colorful pageants which
displayed different forms of combat. Jousting was one of
the events shown at a tournament. Jousting was an
individual event whereas the Melee was a team event
where teams of knights fought on fought or on
horseback.