middle ages collage 

Aaliyah Hernandez

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante 

March 31, 2026

                                                          Moral of Some of the Middle Ages 

Introduction 

Have you ever wondered what it took to become a knight in medieval times?  Feudalism was a government system in the Middle Ages. Knights had to learn for many years and had to protect people. Mostly everybody thought children were useless in the Middle Ages but they really weren’t. 

Feudalism

Feudalism was the government system during the Middle Ages. Feudalism was the system of government and there was not only one king but there were individual lords, and they each did their own thing such as demanding military service from vassals. They also dealt with money and taxes, due to each king having their own things to do because the kingdoms were too big just for one king to do everything. In the article it does explain how there was too much to do and control so he divided all his work with the barons, barons were called fiefs they were high ranked nobles. According to the article  “Middle Ages feudal system,’’ it states “ They divided up their land among Lords who ran individual manors. Their job was to maintain an army that was at the king's service.If they did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead.” (Middle Ages feudal…)This explains what jobs the barons had to do from the king's orders; it also talks about how they didn't have an army. Peasants and serfs were also a big thing in the feudalism

And medieval life even though peasants lived a very hard life they were a major part, because some peasants were free and owned businesses such as blacksmiths and carpenters. But then there were also the peasants that barely had food to survive.According to the text “peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive.” (Middle Ages…)

  Peasants also lived in a very crowded and overwhelming place. There were about ten to sixty families in one area. Serfs were not slaves but yet they still needed permission to do many things for example they had to have permission to marry or leave the land, unless the person ran away from the land.

Becoming a Knight 

Becoming a knight was a very long and hard process because they had to train from a young age they also had to purchase their own armor with their own earnings such as a horse, shield, and weapons. Most of the time it was expected for a boy from a wealthy family to become a knight due to having to buy weapons and many other things. Most of the boys started training at the age of only seven years old. If they started at that age they would be taken to a castle to train up to the age of fourteen-sixteen and would become a squire. Knighthood was a very long and important  process because they had to learn how to be strong and handle many things such as hunger, this is also why they had to train for many years because they had to learn many important things. According to the article “Becoming a knight” it says, “ During his long period of Knighthood training a squire or page must also learn bravery and the ability to withstand extremes in cold and heat, tiredness and hunger. It was not all hard work. The apprentice knights also enjoyed attending tournaments - great fun for these young men.” (Becoming…) Horses were also an important step of becoming a knight because they all had different roles they are also in various sizes due to traveling they all have a different purpose. Another thing they had to practice was their balance; they also had to practice swimming, climbing, wrestling. One thing they did to practice their balance was they would give each other piggybacks and fight others. According to the article “ Sword play was practised using wooden swords and shields. Fighting on piggyback introduced the young knights to the balance and skills required in mounted combat.” (Becoming…) Some squires actually never became a knight even after training for a long time but they did host a ceremony for those who didn't become a knight. So even though some did not end up becoming a knight they still got a ceremony to show he trained for many years.

Children in the Middle Ages  

  Children in the Middle Ages had a very hard and sad life. Most of them were not accepted and would get killed which would cut their life short. Even the ones that were accepted, their lifespans were short due to not having food, sickness and poor diets. Another reason they had a very short lifespan was because they got diseases and died, some had accidents. For that reason most babies don't make it to one year old. Children were seen as  useless because they could not really work since some adults saw them as weak people and immature. Even though people just saw  the negative things about them, they still worked very hard by feeding animals and working around the farm. According to the text “ Also, many children did not experience hours of playtime because they were put to work in order to help their families.’’ (Children…) Playing was also an important matter to the kids and the toys would be homemade by family or friends. The older kids would have most of the responsibilities caring for the younger kids. They would spend their time reading stories to the younger children. The children in the Middle Ages that came from a wealthier family were able to go to school, while the non- wealthy children were commonly taught by their parents. 

In school they would learn the language Latin because that was the language that they used in church. The ones that didn’t attend school were sometimes not able to learn the language due to the parents not having the education. No matter where they lived their life was never easy.According to the text “ Local peasants would work the land for the lord. The peasants were called the lord's "villeins", which was like a servant.The peasants worked hard all year long.” (Middle… )People in the country had to work as farmers, some like villains that are similar to servants. They needed to work all year round. The people living in the city also had a difficult life because they had to live in dirty and crowded places. Even though they had jobs being servants, merchants, bakers, doctors, and lawyers their life was not any easier.9q

 Conclusion 

 In conclusion, it took a long time for becoming a knight, many kings helped in feudalism. And kids helped with many things in the medieval time and were not useless. The Middle Ages are important to study because you can learn a lot of interesting facts about what happened in the Middle Ages and why it happened. 

Works Cited: 

Becoming A Knight .drive.google.com/file/d/1DYIPuE99LCASXwqVP5cHnVtD n0aPqf0/view. 

Accessed 29 January 2026.

“Children in the Middle Ages.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages/daily_li 

fe_in_the_middle_ages.php Accessed 29 January 2026 

“Feudalism and Medieval Life.”Britain Express www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudali 

sm_and_Medieval_life.htm. Accessed 9 January 2026

 “Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feu 

dal_system.php. Accessed 9 January 2026.

“Middle Ages.” Ducksters  https://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages/daily_life_in_ 

the_middle_ages.php. Accessed 29 January 2026.

Newman, Simon. “Children in the Middle Ages” The Finer Times. drive.google.com/file/d/1D 

YIPuE99LCASXwqVP5cHnVtDn0aPnqf0/view23 March 2012,. Accessed 29 January 

2026.