The Nobility 
Last Updated     12/8/2007      12/6/2007

Early Houses   800-1000
The nobles had more benefits than the common people.
from 800s to 1000s, Noble families lived in wooden houses.
The house was one-room with a high ceiling.
All activities took place there, nobles met with vassals, carried out laws, and prayed.
Nobles, their families, servants, and warriors ate in slept in the one-room.
Their house was protected by a high wooden fence.
When attacked villagers would seek shelter inside the palisade.

Food
Pork, beef, mutton, poultry, game were roasted on a spit.
Meat was preservd by smoking or salting.
Sturgeon, whale, and porpoise were rare seafood delicacies.
Pike, crab, crayfish, oysters, and eels were also favorites.
Lampreys were very tasty.
The most common vegetables, besides onions and garlic, were peas and beans.

Mealtime
Servants set up the trestle tables and spread the cloths.
Meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and honey were put out.
they set the table with steel knives, silver spoons, dishes for salt, silver cups, and shallow silver-rimmed wooden bowls.
At each place was a thick slice of day-old bread serving as a plate for the roast meat.
Meals were announced by a horn blown to signal time for washing hands.
Servants with ewers, basins, and towels attended the guests.
People ate with their fingers.
They threw scraps on the floor for the dogs.
The straw floor had to be swept out every few months because it got so dirity.
Fire was used for cooking and for heating.



The Castle
By 1100s, nobles were living in stone castles.
Castles were designed as a fortress to keep nobles secure and independent.
Cstles had thick walls, one within another.
The corners had lookout towers and archers.
Some castles were surrounded by a moat.
A drawbridge was used to cross the moat.
An iron gate protected the entrance.
In the middle of the castle was the keep.
This tall tower contained a great hall, many rooms, and a dungeon.
Shops, kitchens, stables, and rooms for troops and guests were inside the castle.
Servants and officials took care of the castle and defended it.
Castles stored a large supply a food.
People in a castle could hoild out for as long as six months.

Castle Life
Nobles looked after their estates, went hunting and fishing, and held court.
They played chess.
Wandering minstrels entertained the nobles by singing songs and playing stringed instruments.



Women in Feudal Times
Noblewomen were called ladies.
Husbands had complete control over their wife.
Marriages were planned.
The wife gave the groom a dowry.
Women were often married at age 12.
If not married by 21, they would be single their whole life.
Wives helped their husbands run their estates.
Women raised their children and took care of the household.
She trained servants and supervised the making of cloth and fine embroidery.
The lady knew how to use plants and herbs to care for the poor and sick on her husband's fief.
Many women could read and were interested in music and petry.

Bibliography
Greenblatt, M. and Lemmo, P.S.; "Human Heritage." Glencoe McGraw-Hill, New York, New York  2001.

"Life In a Medevial Castle."  8 Dec 2007. http://sirdragontamer.com/ma/castle.htm.

Matterer, James L. "Food and Drink." 2004. 8 Dec. 2007. http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales14.htm.

"Medevial Life Clothing." 3 Aug. 2007.  8 Dec. 2007.  http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/clothing.htm.

Whimsy, Karen. "Medieval Clipart." 2007.  7 Dec. 2007.  http://karenswhimsy.com/medieval-clipart.htm.