Medieval europe knights housing windows#

The male serfs tended to wear stockings and tunics while the females wore long gowns with sleeveless tunics and wimples to cover their hair. The Benedictine order wore black and the Cistercians wore either natural-coloured wool or white. Members of religious orders wore long woollen habits with the colour of the habit indicating which order they belonged to. Tall steeple caps were common but sometimes they were turbans or ornamental headdresses. Aristocratic women wore long flowing gowns and they always wore detailed headwear. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, men of the wealthy classes would wear a form of tights and a jacket or a tunic with a surcoat. This meant that the clothing for the upper classes tended to be very ornate.

If you were wealthy you would were bright colours and better quality fabrics to demonstrate your wealth. Most clothes wore made from wool and underwear was usually made from linen. For example, people believed that disease was spread by bad odours and that if you got sick it was because you were being punished for your sins. Many myths and superstitions about health and hygiene began to emerge. Antibiotics were not invented until the 1800s and it was almost impossible to cure diseases without them. Medical knowledge was limited and limited health care was available to the common people.

Medieval europe knights housing windows#

This was partly because most houses were built without windows for added security.Īs the populations of medieval towns and cities increased, the hygienic conditions began to worsen this lead to an increase in the rate of diseases. For example, most medieval homes were cold, damp, and dark. Peasants could live and work on the lord of the manor's land but they were heavily taxed and they usually had to give the lord of the manor a sizable proportion of the food that they produced. The peasants (who were called 'serfs' or 'villeins') were the lowest class of people within the community. The land was a reward for their contributions to the king's armies. This included nobles, barons, and bishops. The feudal system worked by the king giving land grants to his loyal servants. This style of community is sometimes referred to as the 'feudal' sy stem. Manors were typically isolated from the outside world but they occasionally received visitors from travelling peddlers or pilgrims on their way to the Crusades. The manor was made up of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farmland. This arrangement was necessary for safety and for defence. People tended to live in small communities and there was a central lord or master.

The fifth century to the fifteenth century in Western Europe. The Medieval period is generally considered to extend from In reality, however, life in the Middle Ages, was not necessarily so glamorous. Some of the common images of this period include knights in shining armour, lavish banquets, wandering minstrels, kings, queens, bishops, monks, and pilgrims. Cinema is largely responsible for us associating such images with the period. When we think about the Medieval Period or the Middle Ages we often have a romanticised image of what life was like.