Transcript Life in the Middle Ages - The Education Resource Centre

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Feudal Society
Under the feudal
system, everyone had
a well-defined place in
society.
Feudalism
• Feudalism was a loosely organized system of rule in
which powerful local lords divided their landholdings
among lesser lords.
• In exchange, lesser lords, or vassals, pledged service
and loyalty to the greater lord.
• Fief-land given to the vassal.
Serfs were bound to the land. They were not slaves, yet
they were not free.
Serfs made up the majority of the population in medieval
society.
So how do these people live?
• Most people in the middle ages lived on a manor
or a lord’s estate.
• Including: Lord and his family, his knights and
foot soldiers, and his serfs.
Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Knights
– warriors on horseback
searching for glory on
battlefield so a higher noble
would grant them a fief and
make them a vassal
– follow code of chivalry
• Code that required
knights to be brave,
loyal, and treat women
with respect
• Only applies to nobles
Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Knights
– serve God and lord
– provided protection for lords and estates
– skill with weapons
• Code of Chivalry
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brave
loyal
courteous
respectful
honorable
truthfulness
Knighthood
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age 7-14
serve women of the manor
learn manners
religion, reading, writing, poetry, singing, lute playing
• Squire
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age 14-21
serve lord and knights
maintain lord’s armor and equipment
maintain stables and groomed horses
learn hunting, hawking, chess
• Knight
Knighthood
• Sponsor
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not usually father (may be another relative)
present knight with armaments
squire could not become knight without sponsor
not all squires were sponsored to become knights
• Vigil of Arms
– night before becoming knight, dedicated to prayer and fasting
– wear white and red
• white = purity
• red = willingness to shed blood for lord
• Accolade
– kneel before lord and give him sword
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Tournaments
– entertainment for all
– 3 to 4 days
– various forms of
competition
• all aspects of warfare
• knights show off fighting
skills
– form of military training
– winners claimed horses
& armor of losers
• or demanded ransom
– celebrations of marriages
or diplomatic events
Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Serfs
– common people bound
to the land
– worked for a noble in
return for protection
– peasant of lowest class
– society based on their
labor on land
– no power
Middle Ages: 500-1500
Women
– inferior to men
– taught to be meek and obedient to fathers and
husbands
– peasants worked in fields
– noblewomen ran estates when husbands absent
– women with land had same rights as men
– upon husband’s death, entitled to 1/3
– forfeited lands and rights to husband upon marriage
– single, hair loose
– married, cover hair (sign of modesty)
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Peasant homes
– cold, damp, dark
(warmer and lighter
outside)
– rarely more than 1-2
rooms
– windows
• very small openings,
for security
• wooden shutters
– thatched roofs
– easily destroyed
– sleep with animals
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Clothing
– woolen
– linen undergarments
– signs of wealth
• brighter colors
• better materials
– decorated with silver
and gold
• lined with fur
• longer jacket length
• lavish jewelry
– leather
– buttons for decoration
– clothes tied on
• Medieval hats
Hygiene
• Had soap
• Decline of cities led to a
decline in access to running
water and public baths
• Public baths appeared again
in the later Middle Ages
during the growth of cities.
• The wealthy could afford
bath tubs
– Some castles had bathing
rooms and a person whose job
was just to get baths ready for
the family.
Hygiene
• Poor could not afford bathtubs
– Had wooden barrels
– Full immersion rare
• Labor to get and heat the water
– Usually used a bucket, soap, and a cloth
– Yearly bathing is an extreme exaggeration (probably
started because the poor rarely fully immersed
themselves and because of poor bathing customs of
the Renaissance).
• Had soap but no deodorant, shampoo, or
toothpaste.
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Health
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no adequate health care system
limited medical knowledge
poor hygienic conditions
almost impossible to cure diseases
bloodletting popular cure
early surgery done by barbers with no anesthesia
medical treatment mainly for wealthy
doctors mostly in cities and courts
herbal remedies
(some earthworms, urine, animal excrement)
• Medieval medicine
Leprosy
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Entertainment
– music critical aspect of religious and secular life
– public worship in form of drama
• stories from Bible
• costumes and musical instruments
• outside churches or in marketplaces
• Medieval music
Life in the Middle Ages: 500-1500
• Hunting
– entertainment for nobility
– important activity
Homes of the Wealthy
Castles
Medieval Castles
• First appear in
Europe in 9th Century
– introduced to England
by Normans in 11th
Century
• Important role in
medieval warfare
• Early castles were
motte & bailey
(wood)
Medieval Castles
• Nobles built castles to control and defend
their land
– Residence for the noble but also for defense
– base from which to wield power
• nobles fought for power and territory
– military architecture
– simple wooden → complex stone structures
Medieval Castles
• No standard plans – each one is unique
– similar defenses
– same named structure parts
• Improvements & reinforcements made as
methods of warfare advanced
• Warfare dominated by the siege
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Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church
During feudal times, monarchs in Europe stood at the head of society
but had limited power. Nobles and the Church had as much—or
more—power than the monarchs.