medieval:

The Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Intellect, not tree-like at first glance, but certainly branching dichotomously, the steps labeled from bottom to top, with representative figures on the right and upper left: Lapis (stone), Flamma (fire), Planta (plant), Brutum (beast), Homo (human), Caelum (sky), Angelus (angel), and Deus (God), a scheme that shows how one might ascend from inferior to superior beings and vice versa. After Ramon Lull (1232–1315), Liber de ascensu et descensu intellectus, written about 1305 but not published until 1512.

from Trees of Life: A Visual History of Evolution

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Back to basics

A Norman lord, who lived in a castle, controlled a vast area of land, sometimes as much as two counties. He could not farm it himself. He divided it into smaller estates called manors. Each estate was given to a lesser lord. He was sometimes called the lord of the manor. The lord of the manor would give his loyalty and his service to the overlord in exchange for the estate.

The Manor House: The lord of the manor built the manor house. It usually had a tower and a look-out post. Farm buildings, such as stables, barns and cow byres, were built close by.

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A woman teaching geometry, from a 14th century illustration attributed to Abelard of Bath

In this 14th century illustration from a copy of Euclid’s Elements, a woman is shown holding a compass and square, teaching geometry to a group of monks.

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Back to basics

A Norman lord, who lived in a castle, controlled a vast area of land, sometimes as much as two counties. He could not farm it himself. He divided it into smaller estates called manors. Each estate was given to a lesser lord. He was sometimes called the lord of the manor. The lord of the manor would give his loyalty and his service to the overlord in exchange for the estate.

The Manor House: The lord of the manor built the manor house. It usually had a tower and a look-out post. Farm buildings, such as stables, barns and cow byres, were built close by.

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What People drank in The Middle Ages and Renaissance

Water
Water was rarely drunk due to the difficulties in obtaining clean drinking water (typhoid and other water-borne diseases were highly prevalent). If water had to be drunk, spring water was preferred, as it was less likely to cause disease than river water or still water (pond water). Water was also believed to be bad for the digestion, as they believed that it would chill the stomach and hinder digestion of food.

Wine
Wine was believed to be very good for the health, and was commonly drunk with meals as it was also readily produced in many areas in Europe, and easily transported and stored. Good quality wines were the most popular mealtime drink of nobility, although poorer people could sometimes afford low quality wines.

Spiced Wines
Spiced or mulled wines were also enjoyed. These were used as an aperitif, or to clear the palate after a meal. Spiced wines were also believed to have medicinal qualities.

Hippocras was a red wine which was flavoured with spices such as ginger, cinnamon, sugar, cloves, galingale or nutmeg. Claret was a spiced wine which was often made from a white wine, and was flavoured with cloves, nutmeg, mace, caraway, ginger, pepper and other spices.

Beers and Ales
Beer and ales were very popular drinks, although they were generally consumed by lower class people rather than the nobility (who generally preferred drinking wine).

Beer was made from grains such as oats, wheat, barley or rye, while hops were not added to beer in England until after their introduction to England in 1525 (although they had previously been used in beer production in Flanders for several hundred years). Hops add a bitter taste to beer, so most medieval beers would have lacked the bitter taste of modern beers.

Ales could also be flavoured with spices, similar to spiced wines. These spiced ales were called �braggots�.

Mead
Mead is produced by fermenting a honey and water mixture. Mead could also be flavoured with various spices, either during production or immediately before drinking. Mead was considered to be an ideal drink for invalids by the physicians of the time.

Cider and other fruit juices
Fruit juices were drunk as either fresh fruit juice, or were fermented to produce alcoholic drinks like cider or perry.

Cider is produced from whole apples, while perry is produced from pears. Murrey comes from blackberries or black mulberries, while prunelle is made from plums. A more unusual fruit juice is made from ground and strained pomegranate seeds.

Milk
Milk was not popular as a drink for adults- its use was generally confined to young children. Kumiss, which is an alcoholic drink made from fermented mare�s milk, was popular in the Middle East, but was only drunk in European countries when recommended by a physician.

Tea & Coffee
Tea & coffee were not commonly drunk in Europe during our time period. Herbal infusions were sometimes drunk for their medicinal qualities, but tea was not commonly drunk until after our time period. Coffee was extremely popular in the Middle-East, and was introduced to Constantinople in 1554, but did not become popular throughout Europe for another 100 years.

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A Christian and a Muslim playing chess, late 1200s.

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Lent – the Preparation for Easter

For medieval Christians, Easter was particularly enjoyable because it came after six weeks of hard fasting and abstinence. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, when churchgoers were marked with ashes, Lent was a time when everyone, rich and poor, was expected to forgo many everyday pleasures.

The emphasis was on sacrifice and even commonplace foods such as eggs and meat had to be saved until the Easter celebrations. Eggs laid during the Lenten period were hardboiled to preserve them, a tradition which continues today in the painting of hardboiled eggs.

The Lenten observances came to a climax during Holy Week, the week before Easter. There were daily church services, but thoughts of Easter applied also to everyday life, with an old tradition forbidding anyone to use nails or iron tools on Good Friday, to commemorate Jesus on the cross.

Good Friday was the day for the ceremony of ‘creeping to the cross’, when churchgoers would approach the crucifix on bended knee, or barefoot.

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Pendant

• English or French, Medieval, late 12th century
• An openwork roundel with beaded border and suspension ring. Repoussé, champlevé, punched, engraved, chased, cutout, enameled, and gilded. An openwork dragon bends back to bite his coiling tail, which terminates in large blossoms. The dragon’s wing, with rinceaux in reserve, was blue enamel.

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(image credit: Medieval Crime Museum)

In the world of medieval England, the consequences for criminal action could be extremely harsh. The outlaw most often faced the justice of the trailbaston, commissions that were first given to selected justices in 1304, during the reign of Edward I.

Their purpose was to deal with a crisis in public order, by enquiring into violent crimes and punishing not only the perpetrators but those more powerful and shadowy figures who instigated such crimes and shielded the criminals from justice (Spraggs). In a criminal lawsuit in the time of Edward I, the judge explained that the law is this: if the thief has taken anything worth more than twelve pence, or if he has been condemned several times for little, and the total may be worth twelve pence or more, he ought to be hanged.

THE OUTLAWS OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND