Research Paper

The Middle Ages

Cairo Nieto

Encounters 6

Mr. Skipper

April 27, 2020

The Harsh Times in The Middle Ages

Feudalism

Feudalism is the structure of the middle ages and how it was organized. Feudalism was just not governed by the king only but by individual lords. In theory, the king was just the chief lord but actually the individual lord was in charge of their land (Ross).

The King sometimes makes a deal, for example, he would trade some of his lands to a baron for soldiers. The king was powerful, but could not control all of the lands by himself, so he divided the land among the Barons. After the king's death, his heir will inherit the throne and become king (Nelson). The king had meat, fish, and other things that we have today, but the peasants only ate spares. The king will only drink wine or alcohol but never water because that makes him rightly suspicious (Ross).

The Manor lives in a large house or castle where people would gather for celebrations or protection if they were attacked. The manor is the center of life back in the middle ages (Nelson).

The Bishop was the top leader of the church. Since the Catholic Church was powerful so was the Bishop. Also, the church was getting 10 percent of the people tithe (Nelson).

The Peasants are the lowest rank in the middle ages. Some of them were slaves and some were free. They all have one thing in common, they had a rough life (Nelson). Some peasants died at a young age because of too much work, or they didn’t have enough food. About ninety percent of the people working are peasants. They were living with rough floors with no windows or chimneys (Ross).

Medieval Shields

The Medieval Shields were made to protect a knight from attacks caused by the enemy. The Medieval Shield was also used as a bludgeoning weapon so it had sharp edges. Also, the shield complemented their suit or armor (Medieval Shield).

The Medieval Shield was made out of leather, bark, wood, metal, or wicker. The owner of the shield gets to pick their material according to their style of combat and armor they wore (Medieval Shield).

There are many types of shields. Kite shield is rounded at the top and tapered at the bottom. The Heater shield is smaller than a regular shield to suit the knight. The Buckler is a shield that goes on your belt (Medieval Shield).

They use six colors to design their shield and the colors were yellow, white, red, blue, black, and green (Medieval Shield).

The designs of the shield were mostly plants and animals on the surface of the shield. The surface of the shield could be divided into sections called honorable. The Diagonal Cross was called Saltire. The Horizontal Stripe was called Fess. The Vertical Stripe was called Pale. The Diagonal Stripe was called Bend (Medieval Shield).

The Medieval Shields could go on your back instead of on your hand so it would be easier to ride a horse. The shield had a strap that could go on your back or waist (Medieval Shield).

The knights practice hours on the sword and shield so that their strength, agility, and skills could increase so the knight or soldiers could do good in combat or at war (Medieval Shield).

Crime and Punishment

Someone who is disturbing the king's peace or doing something illegal is considered a criminal. The lords are responsible for punishing people with small crimes. The king and train lawyers are responsible for punishing people with serious crimes. The sheriffs were in charge of keeping the criminals in jail before the trials (Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages).

In the jail that the criminals were in was very dirty and was crowded so the prisoners died before they even had the chance to do the trial. In the jail, the prisoners would starve to death because guards won't give them any food. That's why the prisoners rely on their friends and family for food and money (Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages).

Some of the punishments for the people who committed a crime could have been beheaded, limbs cut off, or often whipped. If a person was robbing they could have been burned alive or could have been drowned. Catholic Churches torture people so the people could say their guilty even if there not (Nash).

Torturing people has been in this world for thousands of years. The only difference between a hundred years ago and Roman time is that Roman only tortured people that were slaves, but a hundred years ago we torture anybody. Now, in modern countries, we take people who commit a crime to jail for a period of time depending on their crime. They are still some counties that kill people for their crime or cut off their limbs, but very few countries (Nash).

Works Cited

“Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” Camelot International, Knight International, 2007, http://www.camelotintl.com/village/crime.html.

“Medieval Shields.” www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-swords-and-armor/

medieval-shields.htm.

Nash, Tim. “Crime and Punishment in the Middle Ages.” The Finer Times, www.thefinertimes.com/Ancient-History/crime-and-punishment-in-the-middle-ages.htm.

Nelson, Ken. "Middle Ages: Feudal System and Feudalism." www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_feudal_system.php.

Ross, David. “Feudalism and Medieval Life.” Britain Express, www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudalism_and_Medieval_life.htm.