Royalty and Noble Life

1. Royalty and Noble Life Yama Azadzoi

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. What the Royals Wore • The wardrobes of the wealthy were augmented by fur trimmings and jewelry.

6. 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".

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Knighthood • All knights came from a noble family. • Knights was a term used to refer to noblemen or warriors. • Knight eventually became a title.

11. 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.

12. 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>.