Middle Ages Research Project

Madelynn Guzman

Encounters 6

Ms. Damante

April 19, 2024

Middle Ages Living Status and Deadly Disease 

Introduction

Back during the Middle Ages, individuals  needed a government to depend on and be controlled  by. Feudalism was a system of government in which individuals were given shelter and protection by the individuals in a higher position than them. In order to have that shelter the lower individual would have to work for the people in higher power. Lords, the lords family, and the people who worked for them all lived in one castle. Millions of people died because of one deadly disease from this time period. The deadly disease was called the Black Death. All these events took place during the devastating , but intriguing Middle Ages.

Feudalism

Feudalism was the system in which people were given protection and land by people of a higher power,and fought and worked for them in return. Feudalism was located in England ,Europe. This government happened during the 9th and the 15th centuries. In need for governments to be able to protect their subjects feudalism was formed.

 The Feudal System was organized by three distinct social classes: A king, noble class,and a peasant class. The king owned all the reachable land , and separated it to his nobles for their service. The noble class included nobles, priests, and princes. The nobles, in turn, rented out their land to peasants.

Although it was a government system followed by all, most people did not benefit. People who benefited were the lords and church men. These were the two groups ranked at the top of the system. They were to be the wealthiest, immune from some forms of taxation. People who did not benefit from the Feudal System were the peasants. The peasants were so overworked and still had very few resources to survive. One example from the text is, “They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive.”(Middle..).

This system did not treat people with equality or let them set up in a better position in the system. In the article it states, “Peasants worked hard and died young. Most were dead before they reached thirty years old.”. (Middle…)

.Feudalism ended when the growth of culture and firearms were introduced. Feudalism ended in 1500. Another cause was the deadly disease called the black death. The disease affects the Feudal system because the disease spreads rapidly to the lower class men. The lower class men were the peasants class who did all the labor work. 

Life in a Castle 

Life in a castle then and now was very different! The material that was used to create the castle was stone. The stone material had benefits such as it was very strong and sturdy.The stone castles also had disadvantages. Two disadvantages were that the castles were very cold and dark. One example from the article is , “ Well, most Medieval castles were made of stone. Although stone was a perfect material for creating strong, defensive fortifications, Medieval building techniques were basic”(Life…). 

The castles were built on top of hills, so the castles could use some natural features of  land to help with their defense. This was because the Middle Ages Castle would be destroyed if a singular cannon or larger artillery hit a wall of the castle. Arrow Slits were slits that cut into the walls that allowed archers to shoot arrows at attackers, but remain safe from the opponent.A Curtain Wall was the wall around the castle which had a walkway on it from which defenders could fire arrows down onto opponents.Another castle structure that was useful was a Gratehouse.

A Gratehouse was built at the gate to help the castle defenses at its weakest point. The number of people who lived there was determined by the size of the castle. If the size of the castle was about the size of Goodrich Castle in England, it could hold a range of 100-150 people to surround the Lords family.The hygiene living conditions were very revolting and lacked privacy. 

In such castles there would be families of rats living inside of the castles! The toilets were a bench with a hole and the waste would fall great heights. “ Resultantly, most toilets (or garderobes) were nothing more than small antechambers, in which you’d find a bench with a hole in it.” (Life…)The waste would fall into a cess-pool or a moat. 

The Black Death 

During the Middle Ages a deadly disease occurred. This disease was called the Black Death. The Black Death began between 1347 and 1351. The disease started in central Asia. The Black Death spread to Sicily ,North Africa, mainland Italy, Spain, and France,  Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and the Low Countries. It was spread by rats that carried bacterium Yersinia pestis on the ship that came from the Crimea and Asia and docked in Messina, Sicily. 

The Black Death got its name by the effects it had on people. When a person got the disease black spots would show on their body due to gangrene. The word black is in the name because the term black also means glum or dreadful due to the impact in the society. The Black Death was also called Bubonic Plague, pneumonic plague, and the Great Mortality.

The Black Death's symptoms were fever, fatigue, shivering, vomiting, headaches, giddiness, intolerance to light, pain in the back and limbs, and sleeplessness. It also caused something called buboes. Buboes are when one or more lymph nodes become tender and swollen. Pus and blood would leak slowly out of strange swellings if a person had caught the terrible disease. The Black Death unfortunately killed around 75 million individuals. The deadly disease killed about 50 percent of Europe.

Have you ever heard of the song “Ring around the rosies”. This song was a song taught  to kids by their parents to teach them about the awareness of the black death. When the lyrics say “ Ring around the rosie”, it means the “rash” the person would get if infected with the Black Death.  “Pockets full of posies” , means the way doctors back then would try to treat the disease. The lyric ,” Ashes Ashes We all fall down” , means there was no more room in funerals where people would just have to burn the dead bodies into ashes. We all fall down means the large amount of people dying. 

Conclusion 

        During the Middle Ages many fatal and interesting occurrences happened in that time period. The Feudal system harmed and benefited the individuals that had to be part of the government system. The Middle Ages castles were built to be defensive and the residences of the noblemen. The Black Death killed 50 million people. This deadly disease also affects the Feudal system because it spreads faster to the lower classmen. The Middle Ages was very important because new forms of political, social,cultural, and economic organization emerged.

Works Cited

“Black Death of 1348 to 1350.” History Learning Site.  www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-engl 

and/black-death-1348-1350/ . Accessed 23 February 2024.

“Bubonic Plague.”Cleveland Clinic. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21590-bubonic-plague. 

Accessed 23 February 2024.

“History of Black Death.” All About History. allabouthistory.org/history-of-black-death.htm. Accessed 23 

February 2024.

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

www.exploring-castles.com/castle_life/. Accessed 22 February 2024.

“Medieval Castle Layout: The Different Rooms and Areas of a Typical Castle.” Exploring Castles. 

www.exploring-castles.com/castle_designs/medieval_castle_layout/. Accessed 23 February 2024.

“Middle Ages Castles.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_castles.php. Accessd 23 

February 2024.

“Middle Ages Feudal System.” Ducksters. www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal _system.php  

Accessed 22 February 2023. 

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express. www.britainexpress.com 

/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm Accessed 7 February 2023.