 |
  |
 |
| |
 |
|
During the Middle Ages, the landscape of Europe was dominated by castles of the knights, where the lords led privileged lives which contrasted with the lives of the peasants who worked their land. The castle was the centre of the local power, as it was the law court and a government office, where the villagers paid their taxes and fines. The local prison used to be in the castle, too. In their castles, the lords and the ladies led privileged lives: they used to wear colourful clothes made from luxurious fabrics such as silver or velvet. They used to eat white bread made from refined flour and also meat. Besides, they used to drink wine instead of beer. |
|
| |
The daughters of noble families had to learn the skills of a chatelaine -lady governors- of castle households, because a crusading knight might be away for several years leaving his wife to manage his estate. Young girls were married between the ages of 14 and 16 and these marriages were arranged between families. The bride would bring a dowry (money and land) to her future husband. Noblemen, on the other hand, entertained themselves by hunting andhawking, activities that provided castle kitchens with fresh meat. Medieval ladies also learnt to ride and sometimes they joined in hunting expeditions. |
|
 |
|
| |
The tournament or joust was a colourful, spectacular event that was very popular among the nobles in medieval times. Heavily armoured knights on horseback charged at each other, and tried to knock one another off with long, wooden pools called lances. |
|
 |
||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Vocabulary Find the meaning of the following words. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Information search activity Look for information about tournaments in the Middle Ages. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |