Life in the Medieval Era, the Time of King Arthur

At the time of King Arthur, or the Medieval Era as it is more commonly known as, was very different in: where people lived, their clothes, the different statuses, some jobs they had, the weapons and tools they used, how they spend their time, and the places they lived in. There are, however, some things that are similar to today’s. Some examples are, the castles, some jobs and war. The way people lived in the Medieval Era was different than the way people live today. There were several different statuses. There was the roilty, then the nobles, knights, merchant, landowners, peasants, then lastly the outlaws and criminals. It was easy to tell what status a person was in based on, the clothes they wore, the jobs they had and even the way they spoke (Bingham 22). The peasants, outlaws and criminals were considered to be the lowest classes. They usually had only one pair of clothes, two at most. They were made from rough, heavy duty materials, which made them uncomfortable (Nash). The lower class clothes were also dull colored, like gray-green, cream and faded brown. The merchants and landowner are considered the middle class. The middle class people wore expensive clothes made of fabrics from Egypt (Nash). Their clothes were having more color like, darker greens, blues, and reds.

The next highest class is the knights. They wore long pants and long sleeved shirts under a full suit of armor. They stuffed their clothes with cloth or even grass, to help protect their skin from getting cut by the armor. Over the armor they wore a surcoat. Which is basic a long rectangular piece of fabric with a hole cut in the middle for their head. The surcoat was held on with a belt that held their weapons (Cooper). Then there are the nobles. They had basically the kind of clothing just a bit more fancy and more layers. The noble women wore many layers then the lower class people. The highest class is the royalty. They wore the most elegant clothes. They were the only people allowed to wear gold and purple (Cooper).

Only certain statuses could use certain weapons and tools. The peasants were the land workers, so they used the tools needed to plant and harvest the crops. The tools they used were axes, flails, harrows, haymaking forks, rakes and many other tools (Simkin). The knights and other people that helped keep the kingdom safe used a variety of different weapons. The most important weapon was the sword. Other weapons that were used are the swords, axes, spears, maces, crossbows, longbows, daggers, quick lime, and even the first gun (knighton). In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain cut off the head of the Green Knight (sir gawain poet). Some other example of using weapons are in the Le Morte d'Arthur were Sir Gawain and Sir Lancelot are fighting, and when King Arthur and Sir Mordred was fighting, both pairs fought with swords. These weapons were mainly used to protect the town wear the royal family lived. The royalty lives in castles. There were many people who worked, lived and protected a castle. There was the queen, king, other family members, nobles and their families and some knights who lived in the castle. The people who worked in the castle was the servants, cooks, soldiers and many others (Bingham 26).

The castles were usually in the middle of a town or village. There would be walls built to protect the village in order to protect the castle. There was to the wall surrounding the village. The outermost wall was the Barbican. They were about 18 feet high and 12 feet thick (Nardo). Many castles had a man made moat around the Barbican. The main entrance to the castle grounds or village is through the gatehouse. The gatehouse has a melt gate inside of the drawbridge. On either side of the gatehouse are towers. There would also be a tower at each corner of both the inside and outside walls (Nardo). There were many different places in the castle. There is the kitchen which is usually in the basement of the castle. Below the kitchen is store rooms where the food is kept. Dungeons were originally where the people who lived it the castle stayed, because it was the safest place in the castle. It was considered a very bad thing to have prisoners in the Medieval era. It wasn’t until other kingdoms started holding people for ransom. Then when they started to put dungeons for prisoners they were high up in the castle, because it was the most succer place. On the main floor would be the dining hall, Library and a great hall. The great hall is where people would have grand celebrations. Like feasts, parties, balls, and coronations. On other floors there are guest chambers and the royal chambers. The Guards have their own dining hall. On one of the upper floors would be the Capel. Which is where the royal family would pray. The things people would do ether in or at the castle are hunting, falconry, pastimes, feasting, and tournament (Bingham).

There was only certain people was could hunt. These people were all men on women were aloud to hunt. Hunting for the nobles and royalty was mainly just for sport. They hunted deer, wild Boar, bears, and wolves (bingham). The lower class people hunted main deer and wild boar for food. Falconry is something both the noblemen and noblewomen did. Falconry is were a hawk and or falcon are trained to hunt small animals. It is one of a few sports with both men and women. The things people did for fun were quite different from the thing people do now. There are some of the main things the nobles did, they danced, sang, played musical instruments played games like chess the girls and women liked to work on embroidery. Feasting was their way of having parties. The servants, cooks and other workers in the castle served rich food and fine wine. As the feasting was going on the jesters told jokes, stories and did tricks. While minstrels or musicians played instruments and sang (Bingham).

The tournaments are also known as mock battles. They are different types of fighting to make up this type of sport. Jousting was the most popular sport at the tournaments. Jousting is were two knights face opposite side of the arena, then they charge at each other with long sticks called lances. The point of this game was to see who can knock the most people of their horses (Bingham). The thing that the merchants and craftworkers did was very different compared to the nobles and lower class people. The merchants lived in the town that surround the castle. Their the one who work in the marketplace selling mainly wool, wood, and iron to the craftsmen. In their shops they sold very fine items that they get from foreign countries. These items were usually silks, jewels, wine and spices (Bingham). The lower class people were the one who lived in other nearby villages. These people were the farmers. There was also some blacksmiths and millers who lived in these villages (bingham). Some other job that people had in either the villages or towns were a physician, which is like a doctor, a seamstress, page, soldiers, and guards. The medieval era or the time of King Arthur is very different compared to today's society. The way people lived, the weapons and tools they used, there statuses, the jobs and housing was very different in the medieval era.