Ariana S.

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

April 30, 2021

Life During The Middle Ages

Introduction

A long time ago there was a period of time called the Middle Ages. During that time people created a system called feudalism. There were many roles people had including lords and kings. Have you ever wondered how lords and kings lived in castles? One thing you may know is that it was probably super cool. The feudalism system lasted for a long time, so what did they do to pass time and exercise? Well they invented some sports. Many things were different during the medieval times that they are today.

Feudalism

During the Middle Ages there was a government system called feudalism that was very strict. Feudalism was created in Europe during the Middle Ages. Feudalism was made for social stability this meant there were many lords that owned some land.

During this period of time there weren't only lords there were serfs, knights, barons, kings, manor, nobles and the bishop. According to the article “It started at the top with the king granting his land to a baron for soldiers all the way down to a peasant getting land to grow crops.”(Ducksters). There were many roles people had, some were unfair like the serfs they were controlled by the lord, they would do anything the lord told them to do. They weren't even allowed to marry someone without the lord's permission. There were some things serfs could do that were good they weren't required to fight. Knights had the role of fighting in battles while wearing some iron armor with a sword and riding a horse. The knights were the kings but the barons could set them to battle. Barons and Nobles are the people that work for the king. Their role was being in charge of the army like the knights but if they didn't have the army ready they would pay for the king's tax. They also took care of the land. Kings were the most powerful of all the other roles. The king was in charge of his land but the king had too much land to take care of himself so that's why the barons helped him. After the king dies the first born son that he had will be crowned as king. The bishops were people that ran the church during that time and this made them very rich.

Castles

In the Middle Ages kings and lords lived in castles which were built in the middle of their land sometimes. According to the article “Castles were often built at the top of hills or where they could use some natural features of the land to help with their defense.”(Ducksters). Castles were partly built to demonstrate the power the lord had that owned the castle. The lord's whole family lived there and the staff that the lord had to protect the castle when he was away.

A long time ago castles were actually built out of wood but they had to change this to stone because it was stronger and the walls would not fall if the castle was under attack. Another old design some castles had is they had a square rooftop, but after some time people changed this to circular rooftops for better defence. Many castles have different designs than others. A feature that a castle can have is called a moat this means that in the entrance there is a big space with water and the gate has to be brought down to be able to enter the castle. This was made for people who wanted to enter the castle without being welcomed. One more feature is battlements this was made for when the castle was attacked the design was the castle's wall with some openings to be able to attack while still being protected from the castle's wall. These were many of the features that made the castle more safe. Some people let their pets like cats and dogs live inside the castle for them to kill rats. There's many ways people in the middle ages thought of keeping the castle safe from everything.

Sports

In the early Middle Ages people would play sports but not any people. Knights would play sports because they believed that participating in sports would help their fighting. Basically they practised their reflexes while playing. There was a sporting contest during the medieval times if a knight was able to prove his fighting skills during a tournament he would be awarded with wealth. If a serf participated in a sporting contest, if they did good they would win more land from lords of manors. Sports contests during this time had very good rewards for the people that won, but there were also some bad things that happened during some sporting tournaments. For example, many contestants were killed while playing dangerous games. There were many sports and some we even still play till this day.

A very important medieval sport at the time was archery but later it became more than just a sport. It became a skill that people had to get by the law. That was made in 1252 The Medieval Law decided to make every Englishman from the age of 15 to 60 years old to carry a bow and arrow. Because of this they needed a place to practice so areas were built to practice archery in a place called Butts.

Some other important sports played during the middle ages were Bowls, colf, gameball, hammer throwing, Shinty, houreshoes, and more these were all sports played outdoors. You may find the name colf quite similar to the sport name golf well it was. Colf was a sport in the middle ages similar to golf in the present day. Many sports back then had different names but now we have similar sports that are played the same.

Conclusion

That's how people during the Middle Ages had to live due to the feudalism system. I guess we can say that some people were lucky like the lords and kings that were able to live in castles, but some people were unlucky like serfs who were controlled by lords. It was even strict when playing sports at this time. That's why it's called the Medieval times.

Works Cited

David, Ross. “Feudalism and Medieval Life” Britain Express. 1 January 2021.https://www.brit

ainexpress.com/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm

“Life in a Medieval Castle: Smells, Sounds and Structure of Medieval Castle Life.” Exploring

Castles. 5 February 2021. https://www.exploring-castles.com/castle_life/

“Medieval Sports.” Lords and Ladies. 8 February 2021.http://www.l ordsandladies.org

/medieval-sports.htm

“Middle Ages Castles.” Ducksters. 1 February 2021.https://www.ducksters.com/history/middl

e_ages_castles.php

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. 25 January2021.https://www.ducksters.com/histor

y/middle_ages_feudal_system.php

Newman, Simon. “Sports in the Middle Ages.” The Finer Times Excellent in Content. 29 May

2012. 8 February 2021. https://www.thefinertimes.com/sports-in-the-middle-ages