Research Collage

Gerardo Ramirez

Encounters 6

Mr. Skipper

April 27, 2020

Middle Ages

Feudalism

In the Middle Ages, people used the feudal system in their life. The feudal system was the economy and the government that the people’s lives were based off. This was a hard time in life due to about 90% of the population working land being peasants. In this case, the lord owned the land and everything in it, would keep the peasants safe in exchange for their service and pay the king with soldiers and taxes. This is how small communities were formed (Nelson).

During this time land was granted to people for the service they did. It would start with the king giving his land to a baron to give to soldiers down to peasants getting farmland. The life that the people lived had several parts, the center part was the manor. The manor was run by the local lord who would live in a large house or castle where people would have gatherings for celebrations or to protect each other if attacked. These buildings would be surrounded by small villages that would have local churches integrated. Peasants would work at farms that would be spread out. Peasants worked very hard but died young usually being younger than 30 years old (Nelson).

The main leader would be the king which would actually not control all the land alone. The land would be divided among the Barons. In exchange, the Barons would pledge loyalty and soldiers to the king. The government consisted of a monarchy (Nelson).

The Bishop was the top church leader of a kingdom. This was the person to manage a place called a diocese. During this time the Catholic Church was the most powerful in most parts of medieval Europe. The church also received a tithe of 10 percent from the people (Nelson).

The Barons and Nobles were the ones to rule large areas of land called fiefs. These were the people that reported directly to the king which also made them very powerful. These people would divide their land with lords that ran manors and would maintain an army at the king’s service. If they didn’t have and army then they would have to pay a tax called shield money instead (Nelson).

Lords would run manors. They were the king’s knights and could be called into battle at any moment by the barons. Lord would be the one who owned everything on their land including peasants, crops and the village (Nelson).

Peasants had hard rough lives. Some were considered free so they could own their own land and businesses. The others were more like slaves, they owned nothing and were pledged to the local lord. They had to work long days for 6 days a week and barely had enough food to survive (Nelson).

Medieval Games

There are different types of entertainment and each era had its own. During the middle ages, there were different games some of which are still played today. For example, hide and seek, tag, using a seesaw, going swimming, going fishing, hopscotch, marbles, ring toss, wrestling, stone-throwing, horseshoes, tug of war, tic tac toe, checkers, chess, tennis, bowling, hockey, football, and baseball (Pattie).

For example, Hide and Seek was played the same as today. It was played by using hiding places available within a limit agreed on by all players. There would be an “it” chosen which would be the one to look for the people hidden, usually, the first one found would be the next “it” (Pattie).

Tag is another game that is still played the same way. Tapestry's, murals, and other drawings and pictures show kids chasing each other in what appears to be tag. When setting up the game of tag just use your favorite way or use the other player’s favorite way to play. There are a million different ways to set up a game of tag. There will be a person designated as an “it”, then the “it” would chase the players around until they successfully “tag” another player. That player would be the “it” for the next round (Pattie).

Baseball is also a game that was played in medieval times except it was called Stoolball. Baseball was actually not played exactly how it is today. In the stoolball version of the game, “the pitcher tries to hit a stool or stump with the ball meanwhile, the batter tries to defend the target using their bare hands or a bat.” Stoolball was defined as a game for men and women to play. There are pieces of evidence that show that this game was played as a ritual for the springtime. It was believed that on most of the stoolball games the winner’s prize was tansy-cakes which were traditional easter food. Sadly no one knows the exact rules to the period versions of stoolball due to it being a folk game. In some versions no bat was used, sometimes they used their hands (Pattie).

Medieval Homes

A person's home has a lot to say about them and their families, much like today. For instance, in the Middle Ages, people’s homes were based on the location of their jobs and what they could afford.

Back in the Middle Ages, not everybody had the luxury of having a paved floor or having glass windows. It was very common for houses to be cold, dark and damp, unlike today. Many times it was warmer and lighter inside the house than outside (Homes).

Houses with windows were very rare. If windows were a feature in the house, then they would be very small openings with wooden shutters that would be closed at night or during bad weather. Due to the windows being so small people inside could see out but not in. Due to the small size of the homes families spent their time together in small parts of the homes which were rarely more than one or two rooms. The homes had roofs made out of dry vegetables which were easy to be destroyed (Homes).

The homes of the wealthy were totally different from the peasants’ homes. The wealthy had more luxuries such as paved floors, as opposed to being scattered with rushes and herbs. Some homes were decorated with tiles, had tapestries on the walls which provided decoration and an extra layer of warmth. The windows were also covered with lattice frames that were soaked in resin that allowed the light in but kept out drafts and could be removed during bad weather. The wealthy were the only ones that could afford panes of glass, in many cases only churches and royal residencies had windows (Homes).

The simple homes did not have a chimney due to it being a luxury. In simpler homes, the kitchen consisted of a stone located in the center of a room which was also used as a source of central heating. The wife of peasant families was the person who did the cooking and baking. The peasant’s diets usually consisted of bread and vegetables that were grown in their own gardens, and dairy products from their livestock. The kitchens in the country homes and castles were big and had big hot fireplaces that could roast even a large ox. These kitchens were usually in different buildings to lower the risk of fires, their pantries were hung with birds which were usually caught on hunts (Homes).

Works Cited

¨Homes.¨ The Middle Ages Interactive, Annenberg Learner, learner.org/series/interactive-the-middle-ages/.

Nelson, Ken. "Middle Ages: Feudal System and Feudalism." Ducksters, Technological Solutions, Inc. (TSI), www.ducksters.com/history/ middle_ages_feudal_system.php.

Pattie, Tammy. “Medieval Games.” Medieval Games and Recreation, 2011, castle.eiu.edu/reading/MEDIEVALGAMES.pdf.