Kevin G.

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

April 26, 2020

Life During The Middle Ages

Introduction

In life in the middle ages they did many interesting things and had a very different type of government system than we do now.Many different games and sports were played during the medieval times and one of them was enjoyed by many of the people at the time and is still sometimes played and appreciated.During the middle ages there was a type of building,a building that is rarely seen nowadays and was used as homes for the noble and higher rankings.In the middle ages many interesting and fascinating things happened and were made during this time.

Feudalism

According to the article,” Middle Ages Feudal System” ¨The basic government and society in Europe during the middle ages was based around the feudal system¨(Ducksters). In feudalism, the highest leader at the time in Europe was the king. The Barons got control of some of the land which was divided among all the barons by the king. The way a new king was crowned during feudalism was if the king died the oldest son would take the throne and be the new king. For the Lords, they were obligated to do many things including give the military aid and take care of their children. The lords were in charge and had absolute power over the manors, which consisted of the manor house, a few villages, and many acres of land. The lords at the time were knights of the king and would go into battle or war if they were called to do so by the higher rankings. Many people during the middle ages were peasants which are people from the lowest class that have to work and do other hard tasks for the higher ranked people. The peasants got jobs like being a blacksmith and other things like that and would sometimes become slaves for the king or lord. During the middle ages, people would usually cut meat with daggers or other things sharp enough and would eat with fingers because they did not have the same things we have today like utensils. when they had scraps of food leftover they would give them to the dog or other pets that they might have had during that time.

Jousting

There were some sports at the time in the middle ages and one of them was Jousting. According to the article” Knights jousting” Jousting was a medieval sporting contest in which two knights charged each other on horseback trying to knock each other off their horses with lances¨(Knights jousting). They used a thing that looked like a stick to hit themselves off of a horse that is called a lance. The only people allowed to enter a jousting competition were a nobleman and their sons. Initially Jousting was made to train but then over time, it has become a competition and a sport. Sometime before the jousting competition happened the nobleman to be allowed to play must get their royal permit. They would also challenge some other landowners to find the most skilled fighters to play in the tournament. An important key to playing a sport is the playing field of the sport and jousting, it is no different than the others, and the playing field for jousting 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. The players would run from one side of the List and the other player on the other side of the List. They would run towards themselves and try to knock each other off. At the time of Jousting as a sport, many of the competitors were injured or severely hurt when competing in the Jousting tournaments, and one of those people was King Henry VII from England which suffered a very bad leg injury when he was jousting the horse fell on top of him hurting him but also affecting his health for the rest of his life. Many more noblemen and kings liked to join the jousting tournaments as knights to show their bravery and courage on the List. Nobleman and kings were not the only things getting hurt during a jousting tournament, because many of the horses were severely injured. Horses were injured because the competitors would sometimes ram their horses head-on and become deadly collisions with each other.

Life in a Castle

At the time of the middle ages, the building style of castles was very popular around England and was built for the kings and nobility. The materials that were used to build castles changed over time from wood and timber then changed to stone which made the castles a lot stronger than they first were. Even though this was a long time ago does not mean they did not have pets because they did but they would usually have them to kill rats and other rodents. The castles usually had rats and other rodents because castles were very disgusting and usually smelled very bad. The castles were also very cold at times and had absolutely no privacy. Even though the castles were nasty does not mean they were not safe because they were. In the castles they had slits cut into the sides of the castles which let them shoot arrows without letting the enemy’s fire hit them. The surrounding walls of the castles were built for many reasons and one of those reasons was to shoot from on top of the wall walkway down to attackers very easily. Many people lived and worked for the king or lord but the exact amount of people depends on how big the castle is and how many people can fit inside. Usually, the number of people that would live in a castle is around 100 up to 150 people.

Conclusion

The middle ages were a very interesting and fascinating time to live in.There were so many different types of things that they did in the middle ages that were very interesting.The sports that they played were very different than they are now and sometimes are still played today.The types of buildings that they made during the middle ages were not like they are now and were not made for everyone and were made for the higher ranking people.Things in the middle ages were very different and fascinating then nowadays and is a very interesting time.

Works Cited

¨History of Jousting.¨ Sky History. 2 February 2021. https://www.history.co.

uk/article/history-of-jousting_

¨Knights Jousting.¨ Dropbox. 2 February 2021. https:/ /www. Dropbox x.com/s/5 7e84wffg

8e49u2/ Knights%20Jousting.pdf?dl=0___

¨Middle Ages Castles.¨ Ducksters. 8 February 2021. https://w ww.ducks ters.com/hi story

/middle ages castles.php_

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. 25 January 2021. Htt ps:// www .duck sters. com/hi

story/mi ddle_ages_feudal_system.php

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

Castles. 8 February 2021. https://www.exploring-castles.com/castle_life/_

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express. 25 January 2021. Https: //www

.britaine xpress.com/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm