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©1992 Chariot Productions
MEDIEVAL TIMES
1000-1450 A.D.
TIME: 30 minutes
INTRODUCTION
Life in the British Isles around the year 1100 was stunningly
different from the high-tech, post-industrial culture of today.
Society was organized according to the principles of feudalism. Economic activity was almost exclusively agricultural and feudal manors tended to be self-sufficient. There
was little trade and few towns.
Medieval Times describes this period by taking a close look
at the castle at Chepstow in South Wales. This beautiful
castle on the Wye river was the first stone fortress erected in
the British Isles following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Four
miles up the river, the video examines the enchanting ruins
of Tintern Abbey, which was founded by the lords of
Chepstow about 900 years ago. By looking at the relationship which evolved between this castle, abbey, and the
manor lands which they controlled, this program recreates
what it must have been like to live during the Middle Ages.
Designed for grades 6-8, the video is divided into two fifteen
minute segments and can be viewed during either one or
two class periods. The first half introduces the subject of
feudalism and goes into detail about castle life. The castle
is looked at both as a home and as a fortress. The second
half of the program examines religious and village life.
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SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURE
A. TEACHER PREPARATION
1. Preview the video and read over the information in
this guide and on the blackline masters.
2. A large map of the United Kingdom will be useful
before and after viewing the program.
3. Duplicate the blackline masters you intend to use.
B. TOPICS PRESENTED IN THE PROGRAM
1.
Background information on Wales, England,
Normandy, and the Norman Conquest.
2.
Description of feudalism and the medieval social
order.
3. Subsection One, The Nobility: Castle Homes. A
look at domestic life in a large medieval castle.
4.
Subsection Two, Knights and Soldiers: Castle
Fortresses. A look at the military side of the
castle and knightly activities.
5.
Subsection Three, The Clergy: A look at cathedrals, churches, monasteries, priests, bishops,
and monks—the role of religion in the Middle
Ages. The effects of the Reformation are presented.
6. Subsection Four, Village Life: A look at the role of
serfs in medieval society and the customary laws
which regulated their lives.
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7. The end of the Middle Ages and the transition
into the Renaissance.
B. STUDENT OBJECTIVES
After viewing this program and participating in the
lesson activities, students should be able to...
Describe the nature of Feudalism as it existed
among the four basic strata of medieval society:
the nobility, the military, the religious, and the
laboring classes.
Discover the intricate relationships that developed among specific medieval institutions over a
period of many centuries by "visiting" the actual
castles, monasteries, and villages in one small
region of Southern Wales.
Experience what it feels like to wander through
ruined medieval buildings while learning the
purposes served by their long-abandoned rooms.
Describe many of the major historical events in
the United Kingdom from the Norman Conquest
up to the Reformation.
C. INTRODUCING THE LESSON
1. Introduce the program with a brief description of its
content: a look at the feudal lifestyles of four
medieval social classes—the nobility, the military,
the religious, the laborers. Tell the students that
the castles and other ancient buildings in this
program were all intimately interrelated during the
medieval period.
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2. Ask a few thought-provoking questions,
example:
labeled parts with the class and imagine what it
might be like to live in such a castle. Have the
students look up the unfamiliar words. You might
want to use this drawing both before and after
viewing the video, or the class may want to view
the video again to look for some of the places
illustrated.
For
a. How was life different in the Middle Ages than
it is today? How might it be similar?
b.
3.
What do you imagine were the principle
factors which shaped the lives of medieval
people? What factors shape our lives today?
Distribute Blackline Sheets 1 and 2, Vocabulary. Have the students read over the definitions
so they will be familiar with the words and phrases
as they are used in the video.
D. PRESENT THE VIDEO-TIME: Part 1-15 min.
Part 2-15 min.
4. In lieu of a quiz, have the students write a story or a
report on Medieval Times using the words on
Sheets 1 and 2, Vocabulary.
F. EXTENDED ACTIVITIES
1. Discuss the principles of feudalism and compare
them to a modern democracy. This subject could
also serve as a topic for a term paper.
2.
Discuss the medieval roots of our twentieth
century American legal system. Where does the
notion of the "court" system come from? What
are the roots of "common law"? This subject
provides an excellent topic for term papers.
3.
Discuss the medieval view of the world and its
relationship to popular religious beliefs. In what
way has the growth of science altered the way
we see the world? Do you think the sense of all
pervasive magic died as the influence of religion
began to decline? This subject also provides an
excellent topic for term papers.
E. FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
1. Distribute Blackline Sheet 3, Map of Europe.
The students will need colored pencils or crayons to complete this exercise. You may wish to
add other locations for them to locate. (While
Chepstow Castle did not exist in A.D. 1000, this
map is representative of the area at the time it
was built.)
2.
Distribute Blackline Sheet 4, Word Find. Tell
the class that the words appear vertically, horizontally, and at a slant. Some words in the
vertical position appear backwards.
4. How did the feudal system develop in Europe?
3. Distribute Blackline Sheet 5, A Norman Castle.
This labeled drawing can be projected to trace
into a larger bulletin board display. Discuss the
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G. ANSWER KEY
Blackllne Masters 1 and 2, VOCABULARY
Blackllne Master 4, WORD FIND
Words are defined.
Blackllne Master 3, MAP OF EUROPE
Blackline Master 5, A NORMAN CASTLE
A labeled line drawing of a typical Norman castle, ca.
1200.
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SCRIPT OF VIDEO NARRATION
CASTLES AND CATHEDRALS
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
1000-1450
When you hear of "the Middle Ages," what do you
imagine?...a time long ago when lords and ladies lived in
fantastic castles...and knights in armor roamed the
countryside...when enormous cathedrals towered over the
villages...and peasants worked in the fields?
It seems like a fairytale world to us now, but it really existed.
And, although the voices of the people who lived in those
times are now silent, the buildings and works of art they left
behind can tell a fascinating story of what life was like in the
Middle Ages.
Our story takes place here in the fertile farmlands near the
west coast of England. For centuries these lands were
home to a Celtic-speaking people called the Welsh who
lived in the kingdom of Wales.
The Welsh fought hard to protect their lands—first from the
Romans and later from the Anglo-Saxons.
Then, when England was conquered by William, the Duke of
Normandy, at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Welsh
faced a new enemy as some of the Welsh homelands were
divided among the Norman invaders.
The Normans brought with them the medieval culture and
architecture of their French homeland and soon the countryside rang out with the sounds of the mason's chisel as
great stone castles, abbeys, and cathedrals were constructed, some taking hundreds of years to complete.
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The first great fortress to be built following the Norman
Conquest was Chepstow Castle. From its protected vantage
point high on the cliffs above the river Wye, the lords and
ladies could keep an eye on everyone who travelled the
coastal road between England and Wales, and they could
defend themselves against attack by the enemy Welsh.
Smaller landholders formed the center of the social pyramid. Quite often these small landholders were knights in
the service of earls and other nobles.
A village soon grew up under the protection of the castle,
the villagers working in the lord's fields or as servants in the
castle.
At the pyramid's base were huge masses of serfs, the
landless unpaid laborers who dwelt in villages and worked
the land for a share of the crops they raised.
Then, 65 years after construction began on Chepstow
Castle, the lord brought monks over from Normandy to
establish a great church at Tintern, five miles up the Wye
River. At the same time, a Norman knight began to build his
own smaller castle on the lands of Penhow, eight miles west
of Chepstow.
PART ONE: CASTLE LIFE
Together, Chepstow Castle, the surrounding village, Tintern Abbey, and the knight's castle of Penhow formed a
complete medieval society based on the principles of
feudalism, which governed how people lived and worked
and what they believed. Everyone's place in this society
was strictly defined—lords and ladies, servants and craftsmen, knights and monks—all had their roles in feudal
society.
FEUDALISM: THE MEDIEVAL SOCIAL ORDER
Feudalism was based on the service of a vassal to his lord
in exchange for protection and the right to live on his land.
The feudal nobility formed the top of a social pyramid
whose tip was composed of royalty—the kings, queens,
princes, and princesses who ruled over entire countries.
Lower in rank were the dukes, earls, barons, and other
lesser nobles who controlled vast regions within the king's
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domain. In exchange they provided him with armies and
treasure.
The castles of 900 years ago were not just fortresses. They
were also the homes of noblemen and their families. A
great castle was like a small self-contained town. Inside its
walls you could find almost everything you wanted.
It took lots of work and many people to keep the castle
running smoothly. One large English castle records employing 300 full-time servants.
Like most medieval fortresses, Chepstow Castle was
constructed in stages over many centuries. Chepstow
began as a single great stone tower. Life in this tower was
difficult, but these Norman invaders were a tough and
determined group. Their main concern was just to survive in
the midst of a very hostile environment.
It was cold inside this tower, which was built without a
fireplace. The only warmth was provided by portable
braziers filled with burning coals.
Most of the lord's day-to-day, social, administrative, and
military duties were performed inside the tower within this
great hall. Meals were served here, and each day the
servants made up dining tables by placing thick boards on
wooden trestles.
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The early Normans were not used to having much privacy for
at night the tables were simply put away and the lord, his
family, guests, and dogs curled up on the floor and went to
sleep.
Starting in 1270, as war raged between the kingdoms of
Wales and England, the lord of Chepstow Castle decided to
make his home more comfortable and construction began on
a new hall, kitchens, pantries, cellars, and living quarters.
Because some of these rooms are in ruins today, we can
only imagine how they must have looked over seven
hundred years ago, but we can get some impression of their
appearance by looking at rooms serving similar purposes at
nearby Penhow Castle.
Here the dining table stands in the castle's great hall
beneath a ceiling supported by heavy oak beams, overlooked by a minstrels' gallery where musicians performed
during many lavish banquets.
The nobles ate two hot meals a day. They feasted on wild
game and a variety of strong spicy foods.
At Chepstow Castle food was prepared in a large kitchen
building serparate from the hall, for the kitchen was a
smokey place where a big open fire always blazed, meat
roasted, kettles boiled, and endless loaves of bread were
baked in ovens along the kitchen wall.
Because hundreds of people lived in large castles, quite a
few rooms were dedicated to food preparation and storage.
Beneath the great dining hall at Chepstow are cellars where
food was stored after being hoisted up from boats in the
river below.
the butler kept track of the castle account books. Also
beneath the hall is a pantry for final food preparation and
stone cupboards where knives and table linens were kept.
Across the courtyard from the kitchens and dining hall, a
new tower was constructed to shelter the late 13th century
lords of Chepstow Castle. It is a massive structure when
seen from outside the curtain walls, showing clearly the
huge pyramids of stone employed to protect it from attack by
the battering ram.
To reach the bedchambers within the tower, the noble
lords, ladies, and their children climbed a steep winding
staircase. Their bedchambers may once have resembled
this room at Penhow Castle with a large bed, a smaller
child's bed, and a chest for clothing. In a room just like this a
nobleman could sit in a window seat and survey his domain
in safety.
On cold winter days, many lords conducted castle business
from their bedchambers, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace in an otherwise cold and drafty building.
The nobility loved to show off their riches, not only by
constructing enormous castles, but also by wearing the
elegant clothing which set them apart from the common
people.
In the late medieval era, the nobles passed "sumptuary
laws" which forbid even the wealthiest commoners from
wearing lavish clothing. The nobles reserved the most
ornate styles for their class alone.
Dressed in their finery, lords and ladies spent a good deal of
time in the pursuit of pleasure: attending mock battles,
feasting, and hunting rabbits or other small game with
falcons especially trained for this purpose.
Nearby is a buttery where wine and beer were stored and
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KNIGHTS, SOLDIERS, SQUIRES, AND PAGES
Noblemen were not the only people who owned castles. The
lord of Chepstow granted the lands of Penhow Castle to one
of his loyal Norman knights for a "knight's fee," that is, in
exchange for keeping the Welsh subdued, providing a
monthly quota of men to serve at Chepstow Castle, and
supplying one mounted soldier in times of war.
Most castles were surrounded by water-filled moats. In
times of war the drawbridge was raised, a powerful grate
was dropped, and the castle doors were locked behind both
of them. Even if attackers could get close enough to chop
through the doors, they were still vulnerable to arrows,
rocks, and boiling oil streaming through "murder holes"
above the castle's entrance.
A knight's position in society required him to be both a
military man and landowner. As a landowner it was his duty
to oversee the smooth operation of his farms and village.
Captured attackers met horrible fates. They were locked up
in cold windowless dungeons and often underwent
gruesome ordeals.
Yet knights, like all other wealthy members of medieval
society, were forced to raise their families behind thick
castle walls for these were dangerous times.
In addition to the safety provided by the castle itself, armor
offered further protection to knights in battle.
In the Middle Ages the nobility made the major military
decisions, ordering knights and soldiers into battle. Some
were even sent on crusades traveling thousands of miles to
fight the Moslems who occupied the holy sites of Christianity.
Knights were distinguished from common soldiers because
they fought on horseback.
It cost a great deal of money to be a knight: a warhorse,
shield, and armor cost as much as a poor farm worker could
earn in 100 years.
In the field of battle a knight on horseback had the advantage over the foot soldier. He was faster, had better armor,
and superior training.
But even fully armored knights could not withstand a steady
shower of arrows unleashed from behind castle walls. From
high above, archers shot down at attackers through the
gaps in the tower walls, and they could move safely along
the wall walks to reach special arrow slits.
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In the early Middle Ages armor constructed of many tiny
loops of metal called chain mail protected men from arrows
shot from longbows. However, with the invention of the
powerful crossbow, armorers abandoned chain mail for
stronger suits made of metal plates. These heavy outfits
provided excellent protection but were extremely hot and
difficult to move about in, and a knight who was knocked off
his horse in battle had little hope of getting up without
assistance.
From the 12th to the 14th centuries, mock battles or
tournaments were a favorite form of entertainment at
castles. These grand spectacles were an excellent way for
knights to practice for real warfare, and, although tournaments were played with blunted weapons, they could still
be very dangerous games. When knights fought in teams,
the event was called a melee, but, if knights competed one
on one, it was called a joust.
In medieval times every upper class family had a coat of
arms. These were proudly displayed at tournaments on
shields and banners. Coats of arms contained important
symbols reflecting family heritage. Even the clergy pos-15-
sessed coats of arms like these of the bishops of Gloucester.
Training for knighthood began at the age of eight when a
boy from a noble family became a page. This first stage of
his education focused on horsemanship, chess, falconry,
reading, writing, and good manners.
The page became a squire as he entered his teens, serving
at his master's side in battle. When his training was
completed, an elaborate ritual was performed, and, with the
tap of a sword, the squire was transformed into a young
knight.
Knighthood was a source of tremendous pride and power,
but sometimes this power was abused, and members of the
lower classes were badly mistreated. Yet knighthood often
brought great glory. And to this day every large European
church holds the tombs of these ancient warriors. Clad in
armor, even in death, they act as silent reminders of a long
vanished age.
PART 2 THE CLERGY:
RELIGIOUS LIFE
Religion played a very important role in the lives of people
during the Middle Ages. While not everyone was a sincere
believer, the power of the Roman Catholic Church over
people's lives far exceeded that of any worldly king.
Nearly every village had a small church whose priest was
just as poor as the members of his flock. The priest said
daily masses and performed the holy sacraments which
marked the passing of each stage of life.
The Church strictly regulated people's behavior in medieval
times. Rich and poor alike were taught the consequences
of their deeds. The vivid artwork of the churches
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offered glimpses into the unbearable suffering of hell and
the unimaginable bliss of heaven.
The Middle Ages was a time of magic and mystery, but most
people were illiterate. The priest was often the only person
In a village who could read and write. The Church was the
only institution of the age which supported education. The
two oldest English universities— Cambridge and Oxford—
were both founded by the Church over eight centuries ago.
In the Middle Ages every family was expected to donate ten
percent of their income to the Church. These tithes, as they
were called, were collected from the villagers at harvest
time when one-tenth of their crops were taken to Chruchowned tithe barns like this one before being sold.
As a result of this practice, the Church became very
wealthy. Enormous ornate churches called cathedrals were
built in most major towns to serve as centers of church
administration. One town competed with another to see
which could create the most lavish building. These magnificent structures required the labor of hundreds of men and
many centuries to complete.
Cathedrals were the homes of high ranking priests of the
Church called bishops. These men controlled the Church's
wealth and oversaw the activities of hundreds of parish
priests. Bishops were social equals to noblemen and, like
them, lived in splendid palaces. Although there were many
good bishops, some were corrupted by the wealth they
controlled. Bishops sometimes became objects of scorn to
the impoverished villagers who saw their hard-earned tithes
wasted on decorations instead of being used to save souls.
The Protestant Reformation, which began in Europe near
the end of the fifteenth century, started as a reaction to the
worldliness of the Church.
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Throughout the Middle Ages, the Church had become
increasingly involved in struggles for power with the nobility.
As a result, in the 1530s England's King Henry the Eighth
decreed himself leader of the Church of England and
ordered all the monasteries in his realm to be closed forever.
Their treasures became the property of the king, and their
leaden roofs were sold for scrap.
This monastery, called Tintern Abbey, lies only five miles
up the Wye River from Chepstow Castle. The foundation
stones of this abbey were laid down only sixty-five years
after the Norman Conquest. The money for this enormous
project was provided by the lord of Chepstow Castle
himself. Such extravagance was not unusual in the Middle
Ages, for these acts of piety were thought to spiritually
benefit the donors who hoped that gifts to the Church might
help clear their ways on the path to heaven.
While cathedrals were town-based administrative centers
of the Church, monasteries were rural centers of intense
religious practice where communities of either monks or
nuns lived in isolation, cut off from all worldly influences.
On this spot, for over five hundred years, untold numbers of
men spent their entire adult lives in quiet seclusion following
strict rules designed to bring them closer to God.
Like Chepstow Castle, Tintern Abbey depended on the
produce of its lands for most of its income. And, although
the monks performed some of the labor in the fields, most
was carried out by the lay brothers—poor, illiterate men
who arrived in surprising numbers at the monastery gates
seeking food and shelter. The fully trained monks, called
choir monks, shared the monastery with the lay brothers but
occupied separate areas for worship, sleeping, and eating.
Most of Tintern Abbey lies in total ruin, but a nearby
cathedral, which was once a monastery, still retains impor-18-
tant structures lost at Tintern.
All monasteries had cloisters, which are covered walkways
surrounding a central garden that connect most of the
monastery buildings. Centuries ago they were the site of a
lot of daily activity. Here monks read the scriptures as they
walked along, studied in compartments along the outer
wall, listened to the abbot teach, and washed their hands in
the lavatorium before eating their two simple daily meals.
Near the lavatorium were dining halls, dormitories, and the
warming house, which was the only place {other than the
kitchen and hospital) where a fire was allowed to burn.
Here the monks could restore the circulation to their bodies
after hours in the freezing church.
Choir monks offered their entire lives as a sacrifice to God.
Their day began at 2 A.M. when they formed a candlelit
procession entering the church by special stairs leading
from their dormitories. By the time the first rays of light
passed through the stained glass windows, many hours of
the day had already been spent in darkness.
Throughout the day, hours of worship alternated with
periods of study until finally, after sunset, the last prayers
were said and the monks were free to return to their beds to
sleep.
SERFS: VILLAGE LIFE
While the lives led by the monks of Tintern Abbey were hard
and tiring, so were those of the serfs who farmed the fields.
There were more serfs one thousand years ago than all the
other social classes combined. The serfs owned no land,
instead they farmed long strips within great fields belonging
to their masters. They were allowed to keep most of their
produce. The Church, however, took its share in tithes, and
-19-
the landlord required a certain number of days labor each
week in his fields.
The serfs dwelt in small villages, which often grew up within
sight of a castle. In times of danger the serfs could seek
safety behind the castle walls. Because the lord of the
castle provided the serfs both with protection and with the
land to work, the serfs were said to be "bound to the land." If
the land was sold, the serfs were sold with it.
Like all large medieval land holdings, those belonging to
Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey were subdivided into
smaller units called manors. A typical manor consisted of a
fortified house, a church, a village, and a few farms. The
"lord of the manor" could be a knight, son, brother, or uncle
of the lord of the castle.
Manor villages were separated by many miles of rough
road through dark forests. News travelled slowly and, as a
result, the villagers world seemed small. Most serfs rarely
travelled beyond the borders of their manor lands. Villages
were self-sufficient, producing everything they needed from
food to clothing to furniture.
Village women in the Middle Ages helped in the fields, but,
because they were often pregnant or looking after children,
their work focused on life at home. Women sewed clothing,
cooked, mended, tended the fire, and preserved food,
keeping their families warm, happy, and properly fed.
The main work of the village men was raising grain. It is not
surprising, therefore, that most manors possessed their
own mills for making flour.
The laws governing the milling of grain are typical of the way
a serf's life was regulated by the customs of the manor. A
serf was required to pay to have his grain turned into flour at
the lord's mill. Serfs caught grinding grain with their own
hand mills were fined and their mills were destroyed.
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Serfs had to take their flour to the baker to be made into
bread. Only one person was allowed to perform this skilled
task here in the village bake house. The baker, like other
craftsmen, was a freeman and was not bound to the land
like the lowly serfs.
Many other laws shaped the life of a medieval peasant.
Hunting in the lord's forests was forbidden, for the lord
reserved the wild game for his family and friends alone.
Serfs were not even allowed to hunt the doves which flew
throughout their villages. Doves were considered the lord's
property, and every manor house had a nearby dovecote
where these birds were raised for meat, eggs, and the
fertilizer they created. It is easy to see why the often hungry
serfs resorted to poaching game, the most common offense in the Middle Ages.
Even rules governing the gathering of wood were very
strict. Not one stick could be gathered before paying the
lord his annual "wood penny," and even then only dead and
fallen limbs could be taken.
The lord of the manor also regulated the use of grazing land.
Common land, the village green, was set aside for use by
the serfs' animals.
The lord and the Church even managed to increase their
wealth at the serfs' expense upon his death. At this time his
heirs were required to give the lord his best animal as a
death tax and the Church took his second best animal as a
death gift called a mortuary.
Life on the medieval manor was not easy, but most serfs did
not question their roles in society. There were pleasant
times like Christmas when they received gifts from the lord,
and they were given feasts at harvest time.
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Medieval villagers, although very poor, also found pleasure in
their families and friends. The Church taught that poverty
itself was noble, and no doubt most of them believed that
the suffering they endured on earth would earn them a
special place in heaven.
By the mid 1500s a new interest in science and art began to
grow as the Age of Rebirth or Renaissance dawned, and
night fell forever on the medieval world.
CONCLUSION: THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES
By the fifteenth century the sun had begun to set on the
Middle Ages and its feudal way of life.
Feudalism had arisen in response to warfare which existed
between many small kingdoms, but, as the ever-growing
web of feudal ties between nobles and their subjects began
to link every aspect of medieval life, warfare gradually
lessened, and society stabilized.
People became increasingly bound to one another in ways
which made war a less desirable way of solving problems
than it had been in the past, and rule by law made peace a
more realistic possibility.
Throughout the land nobles abandoned their castles or
converted them into elegant palaces, and the Protestant
Reformation altered forever the face of the Church in
England.
More than one-quarter of the population fell to the Black
Plague creating a severe labor shortage. Now serfs could
demand, and get, better living conditions until finally serfdom disappeared in England altogether.
As cities began to grow, trade flourished ending the isolation so characteristic of the feudal world.
The vision of the people began to expand from the boundries of their tiny villages to encompass the entire world as
explorers set sail on voyages of discovery.
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I
Name______________________
MEDIEVAL TIMES
VOCABULARY (Page 1)
Anglo-Saxons: Germanic people who lived in England in the centuries before the Norman Conquest.
Aristocracy: A privileged minority, usually based on inherited wealth and high social position.
Battle of Hastings: The decisive battle, in 1066, of the Norman invasion near the southern English town of
Hastings.
Bishop: A clergyman of noble rank, higher than a priest, in charge of the administration of a diocese.
Cathedral: The main church for a district or diocese which served as the seat of a bishop.
Celtic: Refers to a language variety spoken in Wales, Brittany, Ireland, and Scotland. Also refers to the
ancient peoples called the Celts.
Chivalry: Knightly qualities such as valor, fairness, courtesy, respect for women, and protection of the poor.
Cloisters: A monastic place, but especially the arched and covered walkways around a central garden that link
monastery buildings.
Coat of Arms: A shield marked with the insignia or designs of a particular family or group
Dark Ages: The period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire to about the end of the tenth
century. The first part of the Middle Ages, characterized by barbarian invasions, widespread ignorance, and
lack of progress.
Diocese: A church district under a bishop's authority.
Falconry: Hunting with trained falcons.
Feudalism: The economic, political, and social organization of medieval Europe in which land held by
vassals in exchange for military or other services was worked by serfs who were bound to the land.
Joust: A combat or mock combat with lances between two knights or soldiers.
Knights: A military servant often holding land on the condition that he serve his master as a mounted man at
arms.
Medieval Times
©1992 Chariot
2
Name______________________
MEDIEVAL TIMES
VOCABULARY (Page 2)
A Manor: A district controlled by a feudal lord, usually consisting of a few farms, a village, a church, and a
manor house.
Medieval Era: The period of the Middle Ages.
Melee: A fight or mock fight between groups of knights or soldiers.
Middle Ages: The period of history between the fall of the Roman Empire, around 500 A.D., to the birth of the
Rennaisance, about 1450 A.D. The period from 500 A.D. and 1000 A.D. is called the Dark Ages so that the
period 1000-1450 A.D. is commonly called the Late Middle Ages or High Middle Ages.
Monk: A man who lives alone or with a religious order which is separated from normal worldly activities and who
lives according to strict rules under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
The Norman Conquest: The defeat of England by French Norman invaders under Duke William of
Normandy.
Normandy: A dukedom of France located in the northwest part of that country. Named for the vikings or
northmen who settled there in the 900s.
Page: A boy attendant to a knight who was in training for the knighthood.
The Reformation: The movement which sought to reform certain corrupt practices of the Catholic
Church and which led to Protestantism.
The Renaissance: The great rebirth of art, literature, and learning in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries which
marked the transition from the medieval to modern periods of European history.
Serf: A person in feudal servitude, bound to his master's land and transferred with it when it passed to a new
owner.
Sumptuary Laws: Laws restricting the use of extravagant clothing and food.
Tithing: One-tenth of annual produce or money paid as a tax to support the church and clergy.
Wales: A celtic-speaking region in the southwest portion of the United Kingdom which was a separate
kingdom up until the end of the thirteenth century.
Medieval Times
©1992 Chariot