Middle Ages Research Project

Diego Sanguino

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

April 8, 2022

Life During The Middle Ages

Introduction

Most of the people who would live in a castle would not stay there for long they would moving to castle to castle.The Middle ages had many interesting things like they have a different type of government system than we do now.Also had many different games and sports that were played during the medieval times and most of them were enjoyed by many of the people at the time and are still sometimes played.In the course of the middle ages there was a type of building that is rarely seen nowadays and was used as homes for the noble and higher rankings.The Middle Ages was a captivating time in history including Feudalism,Castles,and sports.

Feudalism

Feudalism was a system that was like the government for the Middle Ages.People were separated on different ranks.The ranks were Kings,lords,barons,knights,and nobles.Every lord,baron,kight,and noble would work for the king.The king owned all the land but he could not control all of it,so the land was separated and controlled by baron or lords.Then when the king passes away the oldest son becomes king.Barons would control land that the king couldn't and they would create armies that would work for the kings service.If they couldn't create an army,they would pay the king with shield money which is defined as taxes.Knights could also be brought into battles at anytime if their baron demands them.Whatever is in the lord's land,is theirs.This includes crops,villages,and sometimes peasants.Peasants would be villagers and they would commonly be carpenters,blacksmist,or bakers.A serf had to be with his lord forever, they do not own land, and they could not get married without the lord’s approval. If he ran to a town and managed to stay there for a year and a day, he was a free man.A manor would be in charge of villages and many other acres of land. The villages can hold up to 60 families and the “houses'' are just walls with a ceiling and roof. Most of the time, they space out land, chop wood, and construct roads and bridges.

Medieval Sports

During the medieval period they had sports one of those sports was jousting.Jousting was a very popular sport because it was enternating for people.Also it was a way for knights to show their skills.The way jousting was played is there are two knights on horses that charge at each other with the goal to knock the other knight of of his horse.They used a stick shaped object called a lance.The would joust on a field that is called a List which is made up of a rope or a fence in the middle of the playing field with stands around the entire field.At the time of Jousting many of the competitors were injured or severely hurt when competing in the Jousting tournaments, and one of those people was King Henry VII which suffered a bad leg injury while he was jousting the horse fell on top of him hurting him and making him.Nobleman and kings were not the only ones getting hurt during a jousting tournament, many of the horses were severely injured. Horses were injured because the competitors would ram their horses head-on and become deadly collisions with each other. Jousting wasn't the only popular sport during medieval times.Archery was another sport just as popular as jousting.According to Sports in Medieval time ¨Archery was considered as an important medieval sport during the middle ages and it was not only a sport, rather it became an essential skill to be acquired by everyone by law¨.(Newman).According to Newman ¨In 1252, The Medieval Archery Law was passed according to which, every Englishman of the age in between 15 and 60 years was required to equip himself with a bow and arrows¨.Archers would practice in areas called butts.Englishmen invented the longbow which was a important weapon that help the Englishmen beat the French during The Battle of Crecy in 1346.

Life in a Castle

Castles were first made out of wood.Then later on they decided to change to stones.Most say that castles smelled weird and were really cold.Based on the pictures, the castles are dark and there are many candles and fire to have light.They were mostly built on top of hills for highground defense.First, they were constructed with a square rooftop then made

into circular towers for protection and defending.There was something called an Arrow slit

strips were cut into the wall so archers could shoot and be safe from enemy arrows. There

was also a Curtain Wall that is located around the castle and has a path where they shoot

downwards to the enemies.To keep rats away from eating their food, cats and dogs were the guards that would hunt mice, mice and rats.Life in a Medieval Castle stated ¨How many people would have worked or lived within a castle? Well, it evidently depends on the size of the castle, but, for a site like Goodrich Castle in England, you could expect around 100-150 people to surround the Lord’s family.These would have included everything from cooks to gardeners, grooms and horse-men, and all important treasurers, who would look after the finances of the entire estate.¨. Enemies would make them starve instead of attacking which is called a siege. Because of this, most of the castles were built in spring for the

water source. Castles symbolized or showed power and importance of their lord, owner and/or

master. The reason for a large hall was to convey welcomings, celebration, and things you get to

experience living there at the castle like balls. Privacy was something that was hard to have but

The lord had a room called a solar chamber and they had privacy. They are also very comfy

because of the warmth and heat coming from the Great Hall.Some castles kept prisoners in dungeons and were held in terrible conditions of living.

Conclusion 

The Middle Ages was and still is one of the most interesting times in history.Many things were learned, we learned things from the feudal system,structures built for the high class,and sports that are still sometimes played today.The Middle Ages was one of the most interesting time periods.

Works Cited 

Alchin, Linda. "Medieval Sports." Medieval Sports. www.lordsandladies.org/medieval-sports.htm 

Accessed 8 February 2022.

"Life in a Medieval Castle: Smells,Sounds and Structure of Medieval Castle Life." Exploring Castles.  

www.exploring-castles.com/castle_life/ Accessed 17 February 2022.

 ̈Middle Ages Feudal System." Duckster. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal_system.php  

Accessed 7 February 2022.

"Middle Ages Castles." Ducksters  www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_castles.php Accessed 19 

February 2022.

Newman, Simon "Sports in Medieval Ages." Sports in Medieval Ages/The Finer Times. 29 May 2012 

www.thefinertimes.com/sports-in-the-middle-ages  Accessed 7 February 2022.

Ross, David "Feudalism and Medieval Life." Britain Express. www.britainexpress.com /History /Feudalis

m_and_Medieval_life.htm Accessed 7 February 2022.