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Crime & Punishment

During the medieval period people carried out all sorts of crimes from petty crimes like stealing to more serious crimes like 🤬. There were no police in medieval times and in order to make sure that people kept themselves away from crime and disorder, they were subjected to strict punishments. These punishments included fines, shaming, cutting off body parts and death, depending upon the type of medieval crime committed. There were different types of trials and torture was also considered as a legitimate way to extract confessions from suspects. Accused persons had to go through different ordeals in order to prove their innocence from medieval crimes.

To help trial crimes the king would hire judges to travel around the country to try certain crimes. This was done to try get rid of trials by combat and trials by ordeal. In a trial by combat the winner was proved right. In a trial of ordeal, the innocent would survive the pain. Night time was dangerous because there was no public lighting. A watchman was paid to patrol the streets and no one was allowed out after curfew. Crimes were punished greatly by town governments. And thieves could have there hands cut off or be executed in public. Some where put in pillory or stocks, and some were ducked into water.

The King’s Court (Trial by Ordeal)

Serious crimes were heard by the King’s court. The accused had to face trial by ordeal to decide whether they were guilty or not guilty.

Ordeal by Fire

The accused had to pick up a red hot iron bar and hold it while they walked three or four paces. Their hand was then bandaged. After three days they had to return to the court where the bandages were removed. If the wound was beginning to heal they were innocent but if the wound showed no sign of healing then they were pronounced Guilty.

Ordeal by Water

The accused had their hands and feet tied together. They were then thrown into water. If they floated they were guilty but if they sank they were innocent.

Ordeal by Combat

Noblemen would fight (usually to the death) in combat with their accuser. The winner of the battle would be considered to be in the right.

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The lords and knights divided their land into manors A manor was a village and land around it A knight kept some of the land for its own use ( the demense) and rented the rest to the peasants the knights used bailiffs or stewards to run the manor the peasants lives in the village in a small house with a plot of ground for growing vegetables. The majority of people who worked in medieval times worked as farmers.
Merchants bought and sold good. Craftsmen made and sold goods. They had workshops with a symbol above the door such as a boot to show they are a craftsman. A master craftsman trained others to trade and also ran the workshop. The apprentices started training at 14 and slept in the workshop. Craftsmen of the same work, worked on the same street in larger cities and towns, for this reason streets got named.
Markets were held at least once a week and people came to sell clothes and food. Fairs were much bigger and only held once or twice a year

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The lord of the castle:
The king divided up his land amongst the main lords.Each of those lords built castles and ruled their area .The lord organized the business of the castle ,kept his territory under control and carried out the wishes of the king .He had to fight for the king and help him rule the country . He had to go to the kings court when he was called .since he was lord of his own area , he had to hold court and settle disputes. He passes on his land to his eldest son when he dies .

The lady of the castle :
Noblewomen were married off by their parents . Married was not a love match instead it forged links between important families. The brides father provided gifts to take to her new family  . This was her dowry .
Once she was married she became the lady of the castle and had to ensure the daily running of the castle went smoothly . She was in charge of the stores ,the baking ,the brewing and the cellar .she gave directions to the servants including the pages who came to the castle about 7 years old .she spun flax and wool  for thread with other ladies .she was also responsible for her daughters education

Building Castles:
Some of the first castles were built as motte and bailey castles later castles out of stone and were much larger .

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Key Words

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Knights were specially trained fighters in the Middle Ages. They were usually the sons of lords or other knights. They were the backbone of the medieval army. They went through three stages of training:

1) At seven, they became pages, and were fostered by another lord and went to live in his castle. They learned good manners, music, dancing, horse riding and helpedthe  lady of the castle.
2) At fourteen, they became squires. They helped the lord dress for jousts(combats between two knights) and battles. They practiced with lances, swords, shields and bows.
3) At twenty one, they were dubbed knights by their lord, he struck them on the shoulder with the flat of the sword and said, ‘Arise, Sir’.

The knight followed the code of chivilary. He promised:
*To be truthful, generous and loyal
*To be courteous to the poor
*To protect women and children

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WHAT A CASTLE LOOKED LIKE...........

Castles were typically made of a hard stone with many rooms.

They usually had a curtain wall which had a drawbridge attached to it. The draw bridge was used to help transport people over the moat. The moat kept intruders from getting to the wall, so they couldn’t climb over it.

The castle or keep was situated in the inner Bailey, the inner part of the outer bailey. There were towers or turrets that controlled the draw bridge, and were also used as a lookout tower

~WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN A CASTLE……………………

There was a lot of commotion in a castle. There would be blacksmiths working away on their metal. Cooks were working to prepare supper for the lord and lady of the castle in the kitchen.

DEFENDING THE CASTLE ............

There were lots of ways that the medieval people would defend their castles. For example they had knights on guard Incase an intruder tried to break in. They also used catapults to fire at the intruders in they were traveling by a boat or in a group.

FACTS………

1. Did you know that castles didn’t just have to be made out of stone? Well they ranged from simple wooden enclosures to vast stone palaces! So just because their made of wood doesn’t mean they’re not a castle!

2. A castle was the focus point of a town , because it was were a king or emperor would rule the surrounding land!

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To help trial crimes the king would hire judges to travel around the country to try certain crimes. This was done to try get rid of trials by combat and trials by ordeal. In a trial by combat the winner was proved right. In a trial of ordeal, the innocent would survive the pain. Night time was dangerous because there was no public lighting. A watchman was paid to patrol the streets and no one was allowed out after curfew. Crimes were punished greatly by town governments. And thieves could have there hands cut off or be executed in public. Some where put in pillory or stocks, and some were ducked into water.
The King’s Court (Trial by Ordeal)

Serious crimes were heard by the King’s court. The accused had to face trial by ordeal to decide whether they were guilty or not guilty.

Ordeal by Fire

The accused had to pick up a red hot iron bar and hold it while they walked three or four paces. Their hand was then bandaged. After three days they had to return to the court where the bandages were removed. If the wound was beginning to heal they were innocent but if the wound showed no sign of healing then they were pronounced Guilty.

Ordeal by Water

The accused had their hands and feet tied together. They were then thrown into water. If they floated they were guilty but if they sank they were innocent.

Ordeal by Combat

Noblemen would fight (usually to the death) in combat with their accuser. The winner of the battle would be considered to be in the right.

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▫️Medieval times can also be called the Middle Ages
▫️The Middle Ages lasted from the 5th To The 15th centuries
▫️Today we can see evidence of these times in the ruins of castles and monasteries ,some are still being used, which are scattered around Ireland 🇮🇪 and Europe 🇪🇺
▫️We can also see it in the shape of some streets in older cities and towns

Medieval writers divided people into three groups :

• Those who fought
• Those who worked
• Those who prayed

Topic:MEDIEVAL SOCIETY
(THE FUEDAL SYSTEM)
• In the Middle Ages lan was very important as it meant wealth and power.
• The ownership and control of land was organised through the feudal system.
• In medieval times, all the land was owned by the king,he needed help defending and controlling it
• He got this help from his most powerful subjects- barons (lords) and bishops.
• He kept some land for his own use and he gave the rest to the barons and bishops who were his tenants in chiefs.
• There was a ceremony for handing over the land (also known as fief)
• The lord who was receiving the land knelt before the king 🤴 and placed his hands in the hand of the king.
• He swore an oath to become a vassal of the king
• The oath says “I will be your man 👨 from this day onwards. I shall be true and faithful to you for the land I hold from you”.
• The lord also promised:
• 1: To fight for the king 👑 and provide him with knights. The barons and bishops gave land to the knights who promised.
• 2: To fight for their lords and obey them.
• Villages with land around them called manors were given to knights. Knights kept some of the land for their own private use this land was called demesne.
• They divided the rest amongst their tenants, who were called peasants or farmers.

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The lord provided soldiers for his king.He got these soldiers from his sub-tenants or under tenants who were knights.

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In the Middle Ages, many men and women became monks and nuns. Monks lived in monasteries and nuns lived in convents.
There were many different orders of monks and nuns - the Benedictines, the Cistercians and the Augustinians. Monks and nuns followed the Rule of St. Benedict, which was drawn up in Italy in the fifth century. Many of the nuns came from the upper class.

BECOMING A MONK OR A NUN
A boy or a girl who wanted to become a monk or a nun joined one of the orders as a novice. He/she learned the Rule of St. Benedict and helped with work in the monastery or convent. If the abbot(head of the monastery) or abbess was satisfied with his/her progress, he became a monk/she became a nun. Monks and nuns took three vows:
1)Poverty - that they would give up all their possessions
2)Chastity - that they would not marry or have children
3)Obedience - that they would obey the orders of their abbots or abbesses.

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Many of the ideas about medicine in the Middle Ages were based on the writings of Galen in Ancient Rome.
Like Ancient Rome the dissection of bodies was banned,this time by the Catholic Church.
Medieval doctors believed -black bile,yellow bile,blood and phlegm-are unbalanced. This causes disease.Some also believed that the sickness was a will of god,or die to bad smells or patterns of the stars.
Some used an astrology chart to diagnose sickness.
There were very few doctors in the Middle Ages and they were usually used by rich.
Most people were treated by “wise men and wise women” or barber surgeons who pulled rotten teeth.
The first medical school to train doctors was founded in Salerno in Italy. There was also very few hospitals but most were attached to monasteries And covenants.
Cures and Remedies
Medieval doctors used herbal remedies to cure patients.
Others used the bloodletting treatment used if they thought the blood was imbalanced in the four humours.
Leeches was often used to suck out blood.
Some people went on pilgrimages to holy places to get cured.

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OThe black death was a plague (disease) that speread across Europe in the middle of the 14th century from 1348 to 1351 . It began in Asia and was believed to have been spread by fleas on black rats ,woh carried diseases from person to person ,although some historians have questioned this . Dead bodies had a black/grey appearance from boils and ulcers on the skin . At the time nobody knew what caused the plague some thought it was a punishment from god for their sins . They believed that if they prayed ,fasted and beat themselves with whips , they would escape the disease .Some blamed the Jews and this led to massacres .

Public health :
Towns in the Middle Ages  were unhealthy . People lived close together , and the streets were narrow and dirty . There was no waste disposal so waste was thrown on the streets .There were no sewers -the contents of toilet pots were thrown out on the streets as well. Animals were common and they dirtied the streets. As a result of these conditions there were outbreaks of cholera (from dirty water or food ) and typhus (from fleas ) . Death was part of everyday life .Average life expectancy was about 35 years because many children died at birth or within a year of birth . Women lived a little longer than men though some women died giving birth to children . It was not all bad news for health and medicine in the Middle Ages .New laws were passed on cleaning streets and some towns had bath houses . In surgery ,some doctors used wine as an antiseptic to stop the spread of disease . They also used opium as a pain killer .

What were the consequences of the Black Death :overall estimates for the numbers of people killed in Europe by the Black Death vary from about 30% to 60% of the population of Europe .
The Black Death had a huge effect on the economy of Europe . It took almost 150 years before the population of Europe was back to the levels before the Black Death . Some villages were wiped out .As the plague killed so many laborurers ,those who survived demanded higher wages and te tenants  got lower rents.
In some places where Jews were blamed for causing the plague , there was a rise in anti-Semitism (hatred of the Jews ).
The plague returned at various times over the next few centuries

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~WHAT WAS A CASTLE LIKE IN MEDIEVAL TIMES?~

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~WHAT WAS A CASTLE LIKE IN MEDIEVAL TIMES?~

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During the Middle Ages, living in a castle wasn’t all luxurious and clean. Hygiene was one of the main problems in the castle. Farmers were constantly going in and out of the castle and spreading germs and diseases. Although living in a castle was harsh, castles played an important role in the Middle Ages. Castles were used as protection against invaders and they served as the main way to defend a village from outlaws.

~EDUCATION~

In the Middle Ages, only the rich could afford to get educated. Some peasants got education but it was very rare. People ignored giving women education as they believed women should only do household chores.

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The feudal system depended on protecting farms and the countryside, and the key to a kingdom’s defense was its castle. Likewise, taking over a kingdom meant conquering its castles, and doing so was the most challenging aspect of medieval warfare.

The main methods of attacking a Medieval Castle were:

Fire

Battering Rams

Ladders

Catapults

Mining

Siege

Fire 🔥

Fire was the best way to attack the early castles since they were made entirely of wood. As the fire spread through the castle those living inside would be forced to leave allowing the attackers to take them prisoner or 🤬 them.This was one of the reasons why the castles were soon replaced by Stone Keep castles. Fire has little effect on a stone castle.

Battering Ram 🐏

The thick stone walls of the Stone Keep castles were difficult for men to knock down. Although pickaxes could be used against castles with thinner walls, it would take a very long time to knock a hole through a castle with very thick walls. The battering ram was particularly useful since the weight of several men would be put behind it. This would make it a considerable force that could seriously weaken and possibly destroy doors or walls.

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The Black Death of October 1347-c1352 is one of the worst catastrophes in recorded history. A deadly plague that ravaged communities across Europe, changing forever their social and economic fabric. It is said that the Black Death killed a third of the population!

-THE BLACK DEATH WAS NOT A DISEASE OF POVERTY-
Not only do contemporary chronicles list important knights, ladies and merchants who died during the Black Death, but records also point out a wide swath of the pop

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Motte and bailey castles were some of the first castles built. Later castles were built of stone and were much larger.

Picture of a motte and bailey castle being attacked from the Bayeux Tapestry.

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It is the custom of the nobles who spend much of their time fighting and slaughtering their enemies, in order to be safer from their opponents and to overcome them, to make a mound of earth as high as they can, and encircle it with a ditch as broad and a deep as possible. They enclose the upper edge of this mound with a stockade of logs firmly fixed together, strengthened at intervals with towers, according to their means. Within this enclosure they built their house, a central tower which commands the whole place. The entrance may only be reached across a bridge.

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Medieval people the merchants and the craftsmen 

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Medieval people the merchants and the craftsmen 

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The merchants bought and sold goods some traded far distances in markets and fairs. The craftsmen made and sold goods thay had a workshop at the ground floor were thay made and sold there goods a sighn over the door showed that it was a craftsmen workshop like a boot or something like that there house/living Qutars are over the shops the shop was run by a master tradesmen who takes in apprentices to train to make and sell goods.he lived in with the master craftsmens family and slept in the workshop all starting at the age of 14!.at the end of the apprentice time witch is 7 years he makes a masterpiec to prove his skills then he bacame a journey man and traveled around looking for work and Getting paid by the day each of the trades formed there own guild to control the business of the trade or craft the guilds control the level of craft and decided who could be a craftsmen thay also took good care of the. Embers when thay fell on hard times for example by looking after those who are sick each guild had its own hall and it’s own coat of arms in larger towns guilds combine to build larger guild halls

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The Black Death was a plague that affected Europe and Eurasia greatly from 1347 to 1351. The disease was caused by the bacteria yersinia pestis and is said to have originated in Central Asia. It was then carried along the Silk Road. From the Silk Road it travelled on fleas on the back of black rats that were often passengers on merchants ships, from there it spread throughout Europe. The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in history, killing an estimated 75 to 200 million people and reducing the European population by about 30 to 60 percent.  It took 200 years for the world to reach the same population it had before the  Black Death.

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In the middle ages many men and women became monks and nuns. Monks lived in monasteries and nuns lived in convents. There were different orders of monks and nuns such as, the benedictines, the Cistercian and the Augustinians. A boy or girl that wanted to become a monk or nun learned the rule of St. Benedict and helped with work in the monastery or convent. If the head of the monastery of convent was impressed with their progress, they became a monk or nun

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Everyday food for the poor in the Middle Ages consisted of cabbage, beans, eggs, oats and brown bread. Sometimes, as a specialty, they would have chease, bacon or poultry. All classes commonly drank ale or beer milk was also available, but usually reserved for younger people. Wine was imported from France and Italy for those with money. The wealthier you were, the better you ate. More meat and game such as venison was available to those who could afford it, along with white bread, spices and rich sauces. If you lived near a body of water, fish was prominent in your diet.