Research paper

Adrian Gonzalez

Encounters 6

Mr. Skipper

April 27, 2020

Life in the Middle Ages

Have you ever thought about a life without electronics? Have you ever wondered how people used to entertain themselves? In the Middle Ages people had to live with no excitement until they invented sports and entertainment where they could have some excitement. Sports were important so that knights could train and have a little fun while they are training for combat.

Sports in the Middle Ages

During the early middle ages, Situations for common people were very difficult.

There Were many struggles and the serfs had to pay many harsh taxes. There was a lot of time that peasants and nobles could entertain themselves with.

In the Medieval Ages, they had sports that were designed to increase the fighting skills of the knights. The lords of manors were required to provide trained soldiers for kings. The knights that the lords of manor provided had to have many fighting skills. In the battlefield or in the Tournaments, the knights would have to fight hard so that they could get great wealth. These sporting events made the people want to play sports at the events.

The major sporting events were tournaments and jousts and many of the games were very dangerous. It was important for the contestants of the jousts to have Quintain and pell training so that when they are jousting they don't lose too quickly.

Archery was just a sport, but then it became a law that everyone had to learn such a skill. In 1252, the archery law said that every Englishman from 15 to 60 years old had to have a bow and arrows and this sport had to be played in areas called ''Butts''. The Englishmen defeated the French in the Battle of Crecy in 1346 because of their invention called the longbow. People think that only 50 English knights and soldiers died and around 2000 french knights and soldiers died by the invention of the longbow.

There was more than just archery in the Medieval Ages, there was Colf, Bowl, Hammer-throwing, Gameball, Horseshoes, Shinty, Skittles, Jousting, Wrestling, and Stoolball that were sporting games played outdoors. Colf was basically the ancestor of golf and Shinty was like Hockey. Stoolball was like cricket. Skittles was similar to the game ten-pin bowling. All of these sporting games were designed so that the common people and soldiers could increase their strength, fighting capacity, and stamina. There is also evidence that in the Medieval Ages some people also enjoyed a form of ice-skating in which they used shin bones of cows and they would strap them to their feet so that they could skate on the frozen ponds or lakes. People also used to play a game similar to badminton where they used balls and paddles (Newsman).

Entertainment in the Middle Ages

People in the middle ages did many types of entertainment like feasts, jousts and

tournaments, banquets, Mystery Plays, games, and sports, hawking, hunting, and animal entertainment. The Medieval people from the Middle Ages enjoyed holidays. It has been said that, In addition to Sundays, almost eight weeks a year they didn't have to go to work.

The people who provided entertainment in the Middle Ages were Jesters, Minstrels and Troubadours, Mummers, acrobats and jugglers, and conjurers. Many different people from the Middle Ages played many different games like Board games, Card games, Dice games, Children's games, and sporting games. These games provided entertainment to many people. Some of the board games were Chess, Nine Men's Morris, Tables, Alquerques, Fox and Geese, Shovelboard, The Philosophers Game, Knucklebones, and Hazard.

On the Village Green, the villagers had numerous sports games like Archery, Colf, Bowls, Gameball, Hurling or shinty, Hammer-throwing, Horseshoes, Skittles, Quarter, Stoolball, and Wrestling. in the outdoor entertainment, it also included festivals like May Day were people chose a May Queen and danced around a maypole. The Mummers, however, made plays that were religious and they re-enacted them.

For the rich people, the entertainment was mostly when they were in jousts, feasts, and banquets. In the Middle Ages, courtly love was introduced in the tournaments and jousts. For the rich people, the entertainment while they were eating was music. Acrobats,

Fire-eaters, and conjurers provided entertainment when the rich people were finished eating. In the dance, knights were not just supposed to fight, but to dance (Alchin).

Feudalism In The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages had the system of Feudalism, meaning that Kings didn't govern but Lords, or Barons, did.

Vassals held their land as a request from the lord but when a vassal died, their hire was supposed to say the oath called “homage” to the lord. The Vassals obligations were to go with the lord to his court, contribute money if needed, and help administer justice. The Vassal was required to go to battle and bring an agreed on number of fighting men. The vassals also had to protect and give food to the lord and his company.

William the Conqueror travelled with his large family that if they extended their stay they could make the lord hosting them bankrupt. One year of Christmas feasting, William and his company ate 1,000 rabbits, 6,000 chickens, 90 boars, 200 geese , 50 peacocks, 10,000 eels, eggs, bread, wine, and cider.

The lord had obligations that he had to follow. The lord was supposed to protect the Vassals, guard his children, and give military aid.

Manors were very important in the Middle Ages. A manor was a place that had a manor house, villages, many acres of land, forest, pasture, and cultivated fields. The manor was divided so that each person could have a fair amount of poor and good.

The serfs were not technically slaves, they could not own any property and had to have the lord's permission to marry someone. The only way a serf could leave the lord's land without permission was to run away (Ross).

Conclusion

Although there was not really any excitement in the beginning of the Middle Ages, sports were one of the ways that knights could train to fight. Entertainment was also one of the ways normal people could have excitement by watching people like Jesters, Minstrels and Troubadours, Mummers, acrobats and jugglers, and conjurers.

Feudalism meant that not only kings governed but the Lords or Barons did things two.

Clearly, knights and soldiers were warriors that not only trained, but they trained in sports so that they could win in harsh battles.

Works Cited

Alchin, Linda, ¨Entertainment in the Middle Ages¨ Middle Ages for Kids, Siteseen, 2017, www.lordsandladies.org/entertainment-middle-ages.htm.

Newsman, Simon, ¨Sports in the Middle Ages¨ The Finer Times, www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/sports-in-the-middle-ages.html.

Ross, David, ¨Feudalism and Medieval Life,¨ Britain Express, www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudalism_and_Medival_life.htm.