The Middle Ages

Question 1

What is another name for the middle ages?

Answer 1

The Dark Ages

Question 2

Outline the Feudal System

Answer 2

King
   |
Vassals
   |
Knights
   |
Peasants

Question 3

Who were the Vassals?

Answer 3

Lords, Barons, Earls, Bishops, Abbots

Question 4

Describe the Feudal System in terms of land ownership

Answer 4

○King owned all the land in the Kingdom
○He kept ¼ of land for himself and gave est to vassals
○Vassals provided king with knights in return for the land
○Vassals kept ¼ of this land and gave the rest to the knights
○Knights kept ¼ of this land and in return fought for the vassals. Leased the rest of the land to peasants
○Peasants farmed the land in return for protection
○Paid rent and taxes

Question 5

What were the two types of peasants?

Answer 5

Serfs

Freeman

Question 6

Who lived in castles?

Answer 6

Kings and vassals

Question 7

What were the two types of castles built during the Middle Ages?

Answer 7

A) Motte & Bailey Castles

B) Stone Castles

Question 8

Describe Motte and Bailey Castles

Answer 8

○First type of castle built
○Mainly Wood
○Motte = large mound of earth with a wooden fort surrounded by a wooden fence
○Bailey = courtyard built on lower ground
○Surrounded by wooden fence and a moat
○Bailey contained servants quarters, stables and other buildings

Question 9

What was the disadvantage of Motte an Bailey Castles?

Answer 9

Could easily catch fire

Question 10

What were the features of a stone castle during the Middle Ages?

Answer 10

○Surrounded by an outer wall known as a curtain wall
○Lord and family live in the keep inside the castle
○Castles were cold and damp
○Slit windows with no glass
○No central heating or running water
○Walls and floor decorated with coloured wool hangings and rugs
○No flushing toilets

Question 11

Name the rooms of a stone castle

Answer 11

Lord's quarters
Great hall
Kitchens
Dungeon
Chapel
Spiral staircase
Sentry
Mistrel's gallery 
Solar

Question 12

Lord’ quarters

Answer 12

Where the Lord and his family slept

Question 13

Great hall

Answer 13

Most important room. Lord and his family ate here. Banquets were held here. Sometimes used as a court

Question 14

Who were men-at-arms?

Answer 14

Archers, watchmen (sentries), footsoldiers and knights

Question 15

What were the stages of becoming a knight?

Answer 15

1. Page
2. Squire
3. Knight

Question 16

Describe the stage of being a page

Answer 16

○A young boy aged 7 would start out as a page
○Sent to live in a Lord's castle
○Learned swordplay
○Served Lord and Lady
○Learned good manners

Question 17

Describe the stage of being a squire

Answer 17

○Age 13-14
○Acted as personal servant to knight
○Learned jousting
○Assisted knight in battle
○Learned to fight with real weapons

Question 18

Describe the stage of being a knight

Answer 18

○Age 18-22
○Served lord as warriors
○Took part in tournaments

Question 19

Describe the Dubbing Ceremony

Answer 19

○Squire was dubbed by the lord who trained him
○Ceremony called an accolade
○Squire spent the night before the ceremony in the church, praying
○On the morning of the ceremony, squire dressed in symbolic clothing
○Squire knelt before the lord for dubbing
○Lord tapped squire on head and shoulders with sword
○Lord presented knight with sword
○Took a vow of chivalry

Question 20

What symbolic clothing did the squire wear on the day of his dubbing ceremony?

Answer 20

○White tunic as a sign of purity
○Red robe showing willingness to shed blood
○Black jacket as a sign of acceptance that he may die in battle

Question 21

What tournaments did knights compete in?

Answer 21

Mock battles

Jousting

Question 22

Where did knights live?

Answer 22

In a manor house

Question 23

Serfs

Answer 23

Unfree peasants - tied to the land

Question 24

Freeman

Answer 24

Peasant who had been given his freedom

Question 25

Where did serfs live?

Answer 25

Lived in 2 roomed cottages that were dark and smokey with only a stool and a table. They slept on straw

Question 26

What did serfs eat?

Answer 26

Diet consisted of porridge, bread, cheese and pottage. They rarely ate meat. They gathered nuts and berries from the woods

Question 27

The land the serfs worked on was divided into three areas; what were these areas called?

Answer 27

1. Farmland
2. Commons
3. Woods

Question 28

Describe the three field crop rotation system ( a.k.a open field system

Answer 28

In one field wheat was grown and another field had barely and oats and the third was left fallow. The following year they would rotate

Question 29

Describe medieval towns

Answer 29

○Built close to castles
○Very crowded
○Smelly and dirty as there was no sewage system and people threw the contents of chamber pots out onto the street
○Diseases

Question 30

When was the Great Fire of London

Answer 30

1666

Question 31

What were the two types of Medieval architecture?

Answer 31

Romanesque

Gothic

Question 32

Describe Romanesque architecture

Answer 32

○Based on Roman architecture
○Chunky and blocky
○Rounded arches
○Thick columns
○Thick walls
○Small windows
○Dark interior

Question 33

Describe Gothic architecture

Answer 33

○Pointed arches
○Rose an lancet stained glass windows
○Bright inside
○Spires
○Gargoyles
○Thinner columns/pillars
○Flying buttresses

Question 34

Name three religious orders established during the middle ages

Answer 34

Augustinians, Benedictines and Cistercians

Question 35

What was the Rule of St. Benedict?

Answer 35

1. Pray regularly
2. Serve God by doing ordinary work (farming) and helping the poor and sick
3. Obey the abbot

Question 36

In the medieval, what was the punishment for thieves and murderers?

Answer 36

They were hanged

Question 37

In the medieval, what was the punishment for gossipers?

Answer 37

Dunking chair or scold bridle

Question 38

In the medieval, what was the punishment for a butcher or baker who sold rotten meat or bread?

Answer 38

A day in pillory or stocks/ dragged through town on a hurdle with the rotten food tied around their neck