Royalty and Noble Life

Yama Azadzoi

Where Royalty Lived

• The constant threat of war during the Middle Ages caused members of the nobility to build grand stone castles to protect themselves, their families, and their serfs against a possible attack

• Every castle was filled with servants who did most of the day to day work for the castle and knights who defended it against attack.

Where Royalty Lived

• Within the castle was a building called the Keep, where the nobleman and his family lived.

• This consisted of a great hall that served as an office, dining room, and dance hall.

What the Royals Wore• Brighter colors, better materials, and longer jacket

length were signs of greater wealth in the Middle Ages.

• Wealthy people wore clothing made of silk, velvet, and a heavy cloth called damask.

What the Royals Wore

• The wardrobes of the wealthy were augmented by fur trimmings and jewelry.

What the Commoners Wore

• The noble and wealthy did not want commoners to dress like them, so they made laws that forbade peasants to wear anything but "cheap cloth or a blanket".

Daily Pastimes

• The favorite pastimes of most of the nobility were hunting and falconry.

• Other outdoor sports included playing with a ball and stick, broad jumping, archery, and putting the stone.

• Members of the nobility also gambled with dice and played chess and checkers.

Hunting

• The nobles kept the forests for themselves, making it illegal for any common person to hunt in the forest.

• Only nobles were permitted by law to kill fallow deer, roe, wild boar, and red deer.

Falconry

• Each castle had a falconer whose job was to capture, train, and care for hawks as if they were human beings.

• A good hawk was prized almost as much as a good warhorse and members of the nobility were known to make pilgrimages to plead for the health of a sick hawk.

Knighthood

• All knights came from a noble family.

• Knights was a term used to refer to noblemen or warriors.

• Knight eventually became a title.

Knights in Combat

• Knights protected the lord's lands from invaders and fought in the lord's battles against other lords.

• Knights in the early middle ages were just horsemen, but it became a sign of nobility and social status as it grew more expensive to get equipped for fighting on horseback.

Source Citations

• "Knighthood." Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/knighthood.html>.

• "Noble Life." Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/middleages/nlife.html>.