What do you know about the Middle Ages?

1. What do you know about the Middle Ages? The Middle Ages was a time period where many things that don’t happen today happened. There were kings and queens, knights and squires. Don’t forget about the jester! There were jousting competitions, the feudal system, and chivalry. Life was especially hard back then because women couldn’t do much. All they got to do was watch over the babies that they had. They weren’t even allowed to own land. Like I said, life was hard, so I’m going to tell you all about it. Samantha Baron

2. The People of the Middle Ages Bishop Queens Crusader Troubadours Jester Popes Nun Noblewoman Merchant Guilds Craftsman Villeins Alchemists Knights Monks Lords Kings Priest Barons Heralds Serfs Squire Falconers As you can probably see, there were many people in the Middle Ages. Most of them you might never have heard about because this period of time was so long ago. Some of these people you might have heard about such as kings and queens. A king’s purpose was to rule the countries, while at the same time, a queen influenced with the politics of the Middle Ages mostly through alliances for their husbands. Everyone in the Middle Ages was different, but that makes them special and unique.

3. The Feudal System A way of government based on obligation between a lord, a king, and a vassal is called a Feudal System. The Feudal System was in medieval Europe and society depended on it. It worked like this: The Kings gave out land to his most helpful and important servants, which were barons and bishops, also known as noblemen. The only things that they had to do to gain that land were to be loyal to the king and to supply him with soldiers during wars. Barons and bishops then divided their land between knights and lower lords, who were commanded to become their vassals, (servants) in order to keep the land The peasants were then hired to work on the knights’ and lower lords’ land. Did you notice that everyone works for at least one other person besides the king? Peasants wok for knights/lower lords/ vassals/nobleman/king. Knights/lower lords/vassals work for nobleman and the king. Nobleman just works for the king and the king works for no one. The Feudal System best represents a pyramid as shown below. King Nobleman Knights/lords Peasants

4. Chivalry Chivalry was something that existed back, way back in the Middle Ages. The word “chivalry” comes from the French word horse, cheval. You might be wondering…What is chivalry? Chivalry was something that was like the code of conduct for the knights. If you were described as chivalrous, that meant that you were good on a horse of some sort. It didn’t have to be a specific horse, just any horse in general. I think that’s why they called this act chivalry because cheval meant horse. For the knights, they had to be thought of as kind, loyal, truthful, noble in battle, and polite to women, (including their sisters.) This was a lot to live up to for a knight in shining armor. Most of the time, the knights didn’t. They were lucky knights if they did! The code A knight being loyal to the queen

5. The Castle • As you probably realized, there are no new castles in today’s time. But what were castles like? There were many different kinds of castles back in the Middle Ages, but what parts are found in a castle? Where are all of the pieces to the puzzle found? Well you will soon find out! • The parts of a castle include: • Keep Murder holes • Inner bailey Rocky ledges • Postern gate Barbican • Wall or curtain Drawbridge • Outer bailey Marchicatitions • Parapets Moat • Gatehouse Arrow loops • Portcullis gatehouse

6. Offense or Defense? • Back in the Middle Ages, there were different ways of hiding and protecting yourself. Defense was just like protecting yourself, while offense included all of the fighting. You might be wondering, how did the people of the castle protect themselves without getting killed? Many of them did die, but many still lived. This is why. • Different kinds of defense included: Different kinds of offense included: • Mangonels Tunnels • Moats Battering rams • Arrow loops Towers • Murder holes Mangonels • Rocky ledges • Postron gate • Machicolations As you can tell, there are many more defenses • Portcullis than offenses. This is why many people • Thick walls survived. • Trebuchet • Ballista