Medieval Times

By Princessa

Section One: Lifestyle In The Medieval Times.

Fedual Life In The Medieval Times:
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For safety and defense people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central
lord or master. A lot of people lived on a manor which consisted of the castle, church, village and a lot of surrounding farmland. These manors were isolated with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims, and soldiers from other fiefdoms (small communities).

In this feudal system the king awarded land grants of fiefs to his most important nobles. This was done in return for the contribution of soldiers for the kings army.

The lowest class of society were the peasants, also called serfs or villains. In exchange for living on his land, the lord offered his peasants protection. The peasants had to be protected by the lords because of the Vikings. The peasants were not able to fight because they didn't have the right equipment. Some of the peasants were freed. A serf had to buy their freedom. A serf also had a family to feed, so they had to grow crops for their family.
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Houses In The Medieval Times:
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Land was very important to people, so most people lived in two or three story houses which were called hovels. If someone wanted to add to their hovel they would have to take off the roof and build another story. Most hovels only had a few windows on each story.

There weren't very many fireplaces in the hovels. If you were rich enough to have servants, in cold weather you could have them bring charcoal braises (pieces of charcoal which were heated in metal boxes) into the rooms in which your family is living.

In most hovels, the bathrooms were located on the bottom floor near the back of the hovel.

Poor people didn't live in hovels. They lived in tall buildings that were very crowded. The poor families didn't possess much. They mostly had only a cooking pot and maybe a stool if they were lucky. They slept with logs for pillows and maybe had a blanket.

Some houses were made up of forty or fifty people. Most people lived together for protection, while others lived together because there was no point in wasting their land.
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Foods In The Medieval Times:
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During the Medieval Times, you couldn't just go to Burger King and grab a cheeseburger. This page will tell you what food was like for people living in Medieval Times.

Meat was very popular. Although it had weird names, (fried pig's head) it tasted good. Beef and mutton (lamb) were eaten a lot. Mutton is a kind of sheep. Venison, or deer meat, was eaten a lot too and so were poultry, game, and wild birds. The best way of preserving meat was to sprinkle it with salt. This worked, but not very well, so when the meat rotted, people would pour a sauce on it, and eat it anyway! Yuck!

Vegetables were also popular. People liked eating vegetables like onions, garlic, and herbs that they would pick from the castle garden. These were eaten with meats. During Lent, (Fridays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays) people would eat fish.

People used to have funny habits for serving food. For example, some people tried to make the animal look alive after cooking it! They would cover the meat with fur or feathers! Most people didn't have plates. They used flattened bread instead, called trenchers. When they did get their hands on a cup or plate (forks were almost unknown), they shared with someone else! Used trenchers were given to the poor to eat.

What kind of food you ate depended on how rich you were. Wealthy families ate many different kinds of foods, but poor families didn't get much. In fact, most poor families weren't even allowed to eat white bread! That was for the kings to eat. Poorer families had to eat things like dark breads, oatmeal, and meat (mostly pork). Wealthy families ate meats like rabbit and game (birds).


So be glad you have Burger King, because it wasn't always there!
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Health In The Medieval Times:
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As more people began to live in Medieval villages, their health got worse. People were sick all the time! There wasn't much medical knowledge, and there were no such things as doctors until years later! Barbers did most of the surgery and gave medication. Antibiotics weren't discovered until the 1800s, and it was really, really, really hard to cure a disease without them.

People made up stories and myths about health. Many people thought that disease was spread from bad body odors. Still more people thought that diseases came from sins of the soul. Weird, huh?

The body was thought to be a part of the universe, with four body fluids: fire was yellow bile or choler, water was phlegm, air was blood, and earth was black bile. Too much of one fluid was supposed to be bad for you.

Medical treatments were almost always given to rich people, but they weren't that good! Most medicines could cause many illnesses, or even death! And something as normal as sneezing or coughing was supposed to be a sign that you were in great health!

Even though barbers did do most of the surgery, if a barber wasn't available, someone with no experience might give medication! This often led to awful sickness or even death! Scary! Surgery was preformed as a last resort. Nobody wanted to risk anybody's life, but none the less, it happened anyway.

There were various treatments which could be anything from taking medicine, to taking a hot bath, or even cutting off the painful body part! If a knight was badly cut in battle, barbers would melt the skin back together. Ouch!

Surgery was most successful with breast cancer, fistula, and gangrene. The most common type of surgery was called bloodletting, and that was meant to balance the fluids in the body. Before doing the actual surgery, patients would have to drink some sort of sleeping potion. They were mostly made of: lettuce, gall from a castrated boar, briony, opium, henbane, and hemlock juice. Hemlock juice could have caused death! Guess you're pretty glad that you didn't live in Medieval Times!
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Clothing In The Medieval Times:
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The ladies always wore long dresses. In summer they sometimes wore a fine linen "under-gown" underneath a sleeveless gown. They were sometimes open at the sides. The sleeves might have been slashed to show rich lining.

The best materials were velvet, damask, and silk in brilliant and bright colors and patterns. Printed fabrics were popular, and dresses were embroidered with many different kinds of birds, flowers, and animals. They would wear bells on their clothing to keep away evil spirits. To decorate dresses with rows of tiny buttons or pearls was a sign of wealth.

Veils and wimples [lengths of silk under the chin] went out of style around the 15th century, and married woman showed their faces and left their shoulders bare. They wore wigs often, but it was also fashionable to hide every bit of hair under an amazing headdress. Some of these were very tall or had twin horns and jeweled nets called templets. Another style was a padded ring which could be turned up to make a heart shaped headdress.

Shoes were light pointed slippers, but in wet weather pattens or high heeled clogs were worn to keep the ladies' long skirts out of the puddles.

Dress showed a person's class in wealth. Laws were made, keeping shop-keepers wives from copying the rich dress of merchant's wives. Once a shop-keeper was fined because his wife came to church in a dress that had a train. The design of a rich person's shoes showed that they wouldn't work.

A merchant would wear a gown of fine woolen cloth that was pleated and belted. It hung in neat folds just above the ankles. The sleeves might have had a touch of ermine at the wrists. On their feet they wore open toed sandals. An elaborate headdress called a chaperon might have completed their outfits. They wore dresses and veils. Some women wore corsets. How weird were those Medieval people anyway?

Lawyers, doctors, and teachers wore dark gowns right to the ground while younger men preferred a knee-length tunic. The colors scarlet and purple were very popular.

Fur and velvet were used a lot as trim on cloaks, dresses, and even plain, every day cloths, especially the woman's clothes.




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Medieval Holidays:
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Hanukkah is the first holiday i'm going to talk about. To celebrate Hanukkah, a Jewish religous ceremony, people would use a Menorah (candle holder). For Hanukkah, people would light candles for eight nights. Today is just the same, but sometimes people get presents for the eight days.

After Hannukkah, there is Christmas (a Christian religous event). Back in the Middle Ages, Christmas was a twelve day festival. In the Middle Ages, church people were sometimes scared that Christmas was over. In Germany, they celebrate Christmas for almost eight weeks! (Wouldn't that be fun!)

During Easter lots of people would give each other colored eggs. They didn't have an Easter Bunny back then.

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Section Two: Castles In The Medieval Times.

Castles first appeared in Britain sometime after 1066, when William the Conqueror won the battle of Hastings. The early castles were made of wood. Norman invaders ivented the moat and bailey. A moat is a ring of water surrounding a castle. If someone wanted to get over the moat, someone inside would have to let down the drawbridge, a kind of door. (I think that because of the moats and the drawbridges, the Middle Ages had pretty good security! But still, you can sink!) Drawbridges had to be cranked down by someone inside the castle.

A bailey is the enclosed area around a castle. Baileys helped protect a castle. If someone wanted to attack a castle, he would have to get passed the bailey.

Castles were dark and cold, but everyone wanted to live in them. Castles offered protection from enemies. But castles were too expensive for everyone to live in. It could cost thousands of dollars to build just a part of a castle. The workers might have had to destroy whole forests to build part of a castle. During the 10th century, lords began to build castles out of stone.

There were many different kinds of castles. Castles were in lots of different countries. There were castles in Spain, Germany, Britain, Japan, and many more countries. They all had different styles.

The word castle comes from a Latin word meaning "fortress," which is smart, because that is what a castle is. European castles developed from fortified camps built by the Ancient Romans and from fenced villages of prehistoric Europeans.

Castles became important in western Europe in the late A.D. 900's and 1000's. They played a great role in the Military system called feudalism. In the Middle Ages, Europe was divided into many small states, and local conflicts were common. A castle helped a king or vassal defend the land around where the castle stood. It also provided a home for the nobles and their families and servants.

The walls could be up to 33 feet thick! Nobles were serious about defense. Why were there spiral stairs in a tower? If a castle was under attack, the knights defending the towers would have more space to move their swords.

By 1500, castles became much less important in Europe. Cannons were invented, so it was easy to knock a castle down. Also, many nobles wanted more comfy housing.
So you see, people didn't always go to a hotel when they wanted to stay somewhere. They might have stayed in a castle!
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Section Three: Heraldry In The Medieval Times.

Heraldry is the study of symbols that are used to represent families, countries, and to identify solders in a war. The shiny (most times) armor the knights wore over their body did not help the knights tell if they were fighting someone on their team or fighting someone on the other side. Most noble families had shields called coat of arms. People in the middle class, called peasents, could earn a coat of arms by doing a great deed. Most peasents had coats of arms but they were not given to them by the Heraldry College.

At the Heraldry College all the heralds learned their heraldic skills. Heralds went to school at a very young age, like you, and learned how to read and write. They had to memorize all the coats of arms that were used. They helped in wars by finding the positions of the enemy knights and allied knights on the battlefield. The heralds had their own language for describing shields, called Blazon.


Today Heraldry has been stopped in most places, but in Great Britain and in Africa they still use coats of arms to show their ancestry. In England, the college chooses who has the right to have a coat of arms, like in the Medieval Times.
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Section Four: Myths In The Medieval Times.

Myths and legends were a big part of Medieval Times. People enjoyed telling scary stories about heroes and heroines. Robin Hood was a popular hero in Medieval Times. He appeared in many English stories and ballads. His stories were told from as far back as the 1300s! He stole from the rich, and gave to the poor. His most famous enemy was the Sheriff of Nottingham. he was known as "A right against might."

Robin lived in the woods with his band of followers. Little John was the most commonly known of all of his followers. His name was misleading, though. Little John was supposed to be 210 centimeters tall! That's over seven feet!

Anyway, Robin Hood usually thought to be fictional, but some people think that he was real! They say his real name was Robert Fitzooth.

Real or not, Robin Hood really was a right against might.

Also, in Medieval Times, the suspicion of the number thirteen was popular. Here's how the legend came to be:

One morning the god Baulder told his mother of a horrible dream that he had that had proposed his death. His mother was worried, and made many things from nature promise not to hurt her son. Other gods passed time by throwing things at Baulder and watching them bounce off!

Loki, another god, was jealous, and hatched an evil plan. He tricked Baulder's mother into telling him that she had not gotten a promise from mistletoe, because she thought it was useless. Loki made a dart out of mistletoe, and attended a party as the 13th guest.

Everyone was hanging out, throwing things at Baulder. Loki saw that Hoder, Baulder's brother, was not participating. He asked him why, and Hoder answered that he was blind, and he didn't have anything to throw. So Loki gave him the mistletoe, and guided his hand. The mistletoe sailed through the air and pierced Baulder's heart. And that is how the legend of the number 13 came to be.





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The biggest part of Medieval Folklore was dragons. Medieval people liked to scare each other with dragons. Here are four dragon stories that might knock your socks off!!





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Laidly Worm
There once was a king who had two children. Their names were Chyld Wynd and Margaret. One day, Chyld Wynd left to seek his fortune. Later, the queen died, and the king remarried. But the new queen had magical powers, and put an evil curse on Margaret. She turned into a giant laidly worm, until Chyld Wynd kissed her 3 times. The worm was banished. Long later, Chyld Wynd found her, and was about to slay her, when she asked him to kiss her 3 times. He recognized her voice, kissed her, and she turned normal again.





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Grendel and his Mother
Grendel the dragon used to visit the Denmark Castle every night, but then Beowulf, a hero wounded him badly. Denmark was safe. Then Grendel's mother, who was half human and half dragon, came to get revenge. She kidnapped a noble man. Beowulf followed the trail of blood, and struck the mother with a sword, which did nothing, so he started wrestling her. She had won, and was about to chop off his head, when he saw her sword on the ground. He picked it up, and chopped off her head! He took the head back to the village where he became king!


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Manuscript Dragon
This dragon is very special, pretty, and has jewels all over it. It is the hero of many, many, stories and legends. It frightened St. John, and then tricked St. Simon into taking a stake out of his eye. It changed into a serpant, and jokingly terrorized a city. It took St. Marsel miles away from his village, and made him promise never to return. It also, (tricking him) allowed Chevalier de Gonzo to remove a "precious" stone from it's head. Sometimes a trickster, sometimes an evil villain, the Manuscript dragon lives on.


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St. George's Triumph
Saint George was born in the Middle Ages. His mother died giving birth, but then George was kidnapped by an enchanter. She raised him, then gave him some armor, and he set out into the world. One day, he came across a horrible dragon. It demanded to eat all the children in town, including the princess! The day he was going to eat her, George showed up and bravely slayed the dragon. He then married the princess.


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Section Five: Knights In The Medieval Times.






Try To Imagine there are two knights in an open field. You watch them from the ground below. One of the khights is trying to protect his castle. They keep fighting until one knight falls off his horse. You are still watching the two. They're still going at it. All of a sudden you see the knight that was defending the castle made the other knight fall. The knights' flags help you know who is who. This is a scene you might have seen in the Medieval Times.

In order to become a knight, a young man would go through three stages. Here is more information about each stage:

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Stages
Age
Information

Page:
A page was the first stage of knighthood. He would serve and do easy tasks.

Squire:
At fourteen the page would turn into a squire. He would train for battle. He also would have higher tasks of serving the king.

Accolade:
An accolade would train hard to become a knight. They learned how to use swords and defend themselves. If an accolade was not successful, he would not turn out to be a knight. If he was successful, he would be a knight. During the ceremony to become a knight, he had to take a bath to wash the sins off and dry himself on a bed.

Knight:
A knight could have been knighted as young as twelve. Knights defended castles and worked for Lords.
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A knight or chevalier was a professional soldier. He usually was responsible for his weapons, three horses, his attendants and his flag. The three horses each had their own use, one for battle, one for the route and one for luggage. He carried a lance for encounters and a sword for close fighting. He had several attendants, one to conduct the horses, another to handle the heaviest weapons, another to aid him in mounting his horse for battle, and the fourth to guard prisoners. A lance usually carried the flag of whom the knight was fighting. The flag was a distinctive mark of chivalry.

A knight had to pay for his own way. He had to take care of his horse and pay his attendants. Countries did not have any budget to pay the knights. Land was the only riches each Lord had. If he wished to raise an army he divided his land into military fiefs. Tenants were held to military service at their own expense for a number of days.

The knightly profession was the only career. Knighthood was not heraldry. Only the sons of a knight or Lord were eligible to its ranks. These boys were sent to the court of some noble where they were trained to use horses and weapons and were taught lessons of courtesy.
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Section Six: Important Biographies In The Medieval Times.

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Robert Bruce: Robert Bruce was born in 1274 and died in 1329. He lived in Scotland.

Robert Bruce originally paid King Edward 1 homage but after the English confistcated all his property he invaded England twice.

Robert Bruce was involved in the death of Red Comym (a Scottish patriot). Robert Bruce was also made King of Scotland.

A Story About Robert Bruce

Robert Bruce was once in a cave hiding from an enemy.
He sat down and watched a spider weave a web. Each time something bad happened - first a fox ran through the web, then a heavy wind blew the web. Each time the spider rebuilt the web. Then Robert Bruce said "This spider is giving me a message - if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." So he went out, fought and won.
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Sir Galahad And The Knights Of The Round Table: Sir Galahad was called a Grail knight because he went in search for the Holy Grail. His father was named Sir Lancelot and his mother was given to the name Elaine. His family lived in a big castle called Camelot. They ate what was grown by the gardeners. The food was usally vegetables and herbs. They also kept pigs, cattle, chickens and bees. They kept all these things inside the castle.

Inside the castle there are usually these things: a chapel, a great hall, a solar room ( which is the warmest room in the castle), the inner castle wall and the battlements. There were heaps of knights who felt honoured at the Round Table. The tales of Galahad , the Round Table and King Arthur are partly make believe and are part of the medieval literature. He was the purest knight at the Round Table because he could touch the Perilous Chair without getting a shock.
King Arthur was made king because he was the only one who could pull the sword from the stone, so that was how he was made King Arthur.The table was round so that no-one seemed favoured over the others.
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King Henry II: King Henry II (of England) (1133-89), king of England (1154-89), first monarch of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet, was an important administrative reformer, who was one of the most powerful European rulers of his time. Born on March 5, 1133, at Le Mans, France, Henry became duke of Normandy in 1151. The following year, on the death of his father, he inherited the Angevin territories in France. By his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry added vast territories in southwestern France to his possessions.

Henry claimed the English kingship through his mother, Matilda. She had been designated the heiress of Henry I but had been deprived of the succession by her cousin, Stephen of Blois, who made himself king. In 1153 Henry defeated Stephen's armies in England and compelled the king to choose him as his successor; on Stephen's death, the following year, Henry became king. During the first few years of his reign Henry quelled the disorders that had developed during Stephen's reign, regained the northern counties of England, which had previously been ceded to Scotland, and conquered North Wales. In 1171-72 he began the Norman conquest of Ireland and in 1174 forced William the Lion, king of the Scots, to recognize him as overlord.In 1164 Henry became involved in a quarrel with Thomas à Becket, whom he had appointed archbishop of Canterbury. By the Constitutions of Clarendon, the king decreed that priests accused of crimes should be tried in royal courts; Becket claimed that such cases should be handled by ecclesiastical courts, and the controversy that followed ended in 1170 with Becket's murder by four of Henry's knights.

Widespread indignation over the murder forced the king to rescind his decree and recognize Becket as a martyr.Although he failed to subject the church to his courts, Henry's judicial reforms were of lasting significance. In England he established a centralized system of justice accessible to all freemen and administered by judges who traveled around the country at regular intervals. He also began the process of replacing the old trial by ordeal with modern court procedures.From the beginning of his reign, Henry was involved in conflict with Louis VII, king of France, and later with Louis's successor, Philip II, over the French provinces that Henry claimed. A succession of rebellions against Henry, headed by his sons and furthered by Philip II and by Eleanor of Aquitaine, began in 1173 and continued until his death at Chinon, France, on July 6, 1189. Henry was succeeded by his son Richard I, called Richard the Lion-Hearted.
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King Arthur: King Arthur was a legendary king of Medieval times and was reknowned for his legendary knights of the round table. Until Arthur was a teenager he had never known he was king. He had a foster parent and brother, Kay, who had been looking after him since his parents had died. King Uther Pendragon and Igranuye, wife of the Duke of Cornwall, before she married Uther, were his parents. Kay had to go to a tournament and Arthur could go.
That night they slept in an inn. The next day they went to the tournament.When they got there Kay realised he had forgotten his sword, so he sent Arthur to go and get it, but the door of the inn was locked.Arthur went back to tell Kay but on the way he saw the sword in a stone. He took it out and gave it to Kay without knowing that whoever took out that sword would become king. Kay took it to show his father but his father knew he wasn't meant to be King, so he took both his sons back to the stone. Only Arthur could pull it out so he became king, after his dad told him about his parents and Merlin.He fought many battles as king with his trusty sword Excalibur which was given to him by the Lady of the Lake, Nynyve. King Arthur had several residences, one of which was Camelot, which was his favourite. Camelot was in Southern England. There are two versions of the events leading to Arthur's death.Both say he fought a war against the Roman Empire Lucies and conquered most of Western Europe.Early writers said he was called home without completing his conquest.

He heard that Mordred, a knight, who was either his nephew or his son had stolen his kingdom and his Queen. They said Arthur killed Mordred but later died from wounds. Later writers say that Arthur completed his victory over the Romans. After he returned to Briton, Arthur and his knights went on a quest for the Holy Grail, the cup or dish that Jesus used at the Last Supper. After the quest, Arthur had lost nearly half of his men.

A love affair also developed between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. While fighting in a war against Sir Lancelot, Arthur heard about Mordred. After a battle between the two, they both died. It was believed that Arthur was carried off to the mythical island of Avalon by Morgan La Fay, his sister, now queen of Avalon and Nynyve, Lady of the Lake, Queen of the Waste Land and Wife of the Fisher King. (The Waste Land is where the Holy Grail was kept.)It was thought that Arthur would be healed and would return to his country when it was in great need.
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Joan Of Arc:

Saint Joan of Arc lived in France around 1412 - 1431.
She is the patron saint of France.

Joan is remembered by the French because she led the French to a decisive victory over the English.

Joan of Arc was a French national heroine who became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She was a simple peasant girl who rescued France from defeat in one of the darkest periods of the Hundred Years War with England.

Her great triumph was to lead a French army against the English who had laid seige to the city of Orléans. During one battle the English captured her and handed her over to the French who accused her of heresy and tied her to the stake and burnt her.

Some years later, the church examined her life story and established her as a saint.
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King Alfred:

Alfred ruled Wessex.

He was born in Wantage in southern England.

He conquered London in 886, and soon was known as the king of all England.

He was the wisest king in all the land. Alfred began a court school and invited foreign scholars.
Alfred won his first battle when he was 21.

The Danes were after Alfred.

Alfred disguised as a peasant or harp player when the Danes were around. The English defeated the Danes totally. Later London became part of Alfred's kingdom.

In 893 the Danes attacked again with 80 ships up the River Thames.
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William The Conqueror: William the Conqueror lived in England in the Middle Ages. He was born in 1027 and died in 1087. He was remembered because he was offered the crown and after 5 years he made himself master of all England.

When William The Conqueror died his eldest son became Duke of Normandy and his next son, King of England. William also fought in the Battle of Hastings.
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Geoffrey Chaucer: Geffrey Chaucer was a famous English Poet.He lived between 1340 and 1400.

He wrote the Canterbury Tales which is a group of poems.

He wrote 24 but 4 were incomplete.
He wrote the Book of Dutchess in 1368.

One of Chaucer's greatest poems was Troilus and Coriseple.William Caxton printed this poem at Westminster.

He was controller of customs from 1374 -1386 and clerk of the Kings Works from1389 -1391. Chaucer wrote for a circle of people in and around the courts of Edward III and especially Richard II.

His life is known primarily through recordspertaining to his career as a courtier and civil servant under the English KingsEdward III and Richard II.

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King John And The Magna Carta: King John was born in 1167. He was forced to sign the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta made him keep his promises. There was a council of barons that made him do so.

If he didn't do so there would be a break out of war. There was. He was killed in 1216 and the Magna Carta was forgotten in the 1500's. It was brought up again in the1600's.
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Saint Thomas à Becket: Saint Thomas à Becket was an archbishop. He studied in England and France. In 1155 King Henry II made Becket a chancellor of England. His father was Gilbert Becket who was a man of wealth and position. Becket was educated at the Merton Priory Church in Surrey.

He was famous for his struggle to save the Canterbury Church and for his dramatic death. Becket was sent to study law in Italy. He was born in London and moved around the Roman Empire and rested for a while at Canterbury in Kent.Becket's birth date was the 21/12/1118 and supposedly he lived to the 1170's. When King Henry the II was young, he was Becket's best friend. Together, they hunted, feasted and they both loved a good joke. When Becket became chancellor, he grew to be one of the richest and most powerful men in England. His clothes and house were finer than the King's or Queen's. But Thomas was more than a merry friend to the King, he was a clever statesmen and a brilliant chancellor.

In the 12th century, the Church ruled the country with great power and owned a large amount of land. This did not suit King Henry, who thought that the Church people should obey only his laws. So when the Archbishop of Canterbury Church died, King Henry expected that Becket would take the place of the recant Archbishop. Henry thought Becket would help him to take over the Church, by making the Church lose power. But Becket did not want to be Archbishop. So he warned the King."If I become Arch bishop, the friendship between us will soon disappear.

You will ask me to do things I shall not do.'' But Henry insisted.So Becket did become Archbishop, and it soon changed his life. He sold all his fine things and clothing, he sold his magnificent house as well. He ate plain food and drank nothing but water. Becket told Henry that he must find a new chancellor because he had to devote all his work and time to taking care of the Church. This was not what Henry had expected to happen so as Becket had predicted, they started to disagree.
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Robin Hood: Robin Hood's real name was Robert Fitzooth.

He was a rebel, and many of the striking episodes in the tales about him show him and his companions robbing and killing representatives of authority and giving the gains to the poor.
Their most frequent enemy was the sheriff of Nottingham, a local agent of the central government. Other enemies included wealthy landowners.

Robin treated women, the poor and people of humble status with courtesy. A good deal of the impetus for his revolt against authority stemmed from popular resentment over those laws of the forest that restricted hunting rights. The early ballads, especially, reveal the cruelty that was an inescapable part of medieval life.
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William Caxton: William Caxton was the first English printer. He was born in 1422, in Weald, Kent, England and lived till 1491.He then traveled to Germany, to learn printing, he lived there for 30 years. Caxton moved to Brugge[Bruges], Flanders [now a part of Belgium], where he opened his own textile business, and about 1471 he moved to Cologne, Germany, where he learnt the art of printing.At this time Caxton was also translating into English a popular French romance, which he printed in Brugge as The Recuyell of Historyes of Troye[circa 1474]. It is famous as the first book printed in English. Returning to England in 1476, Caxton set up a printing press at Westminster Abbey. His first publication there was an indulgence, which was distributed in December 1476.William Caxton published Chauser's poem "Troilus and Coriseple".
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Johannes Gutenberg: Johannes Gutenberg lived from (1395?-1468?)

Gutenberg was remembered because he invented the printing press.

Gutenberg had made copies of the bible to give to people, not just for the priests which helped break the power of the Cathlic church.

Until Gutenberg invented how to print, people had to write the books by hand.
It was so uncomfortable writing out books many times by hand that sometimes it would take them months or weeks just to write one copy.
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Leonardo Da Vinchi: Leonardo Da Vinci was born on the 14 of April 1452 and died in 1519. (Monique's mother was born on the same date but not the same year, she is also really good at art.) He was probably born outside the village of Vinci near Florence central Italy.
Leonardo was a smart young lad he was good at philosophy, music, poetry, science as well as being a good artist. Leonardo thought that all artists should study nature so it would be easier to draw.

Leonardo sent a letter to the duke of Milan offering his services as an engineer and an artist. Leonardo became more of an artist when he became Andrea de Verroncchio's assistant.Verroncchio was a great artist and Sculptor in Florence. Leonardo stayed as Verroncchio's assistant even after his apprentinceship.

Leonardo and Andrea de Verrocchio worked on an art piece called, "Baptism of Christ." When Sforzas fell, Leonardo returned to Florence, for a few years, around 1503.

According to Vasari da Vinci was paid by a very rich florentine, Francecso, to do a portrait of his wife the "Mona Lisa." He worked on the painting for four years, but he left the painting unfinished because he took it to france with other paintings instead of sending it to the man who payed for it. This asks the famous question of the "Mona Lisa" or "Giocondo." Is it really a portrait of 26-year-old consort of Francesco del Giocondo? Many critics say Giuliano de Medici, left this famous painting in Leonardo's possession so it would not upset his recent bride. Some people say that the Mona Lisa is a man in disguise. A short romantic story has been woven through this painting.Vasari described the painting without even seeing it. One painting he did with eyelashes and one without. When actually the Mona Lisa never had any because women shaved them off. The Mona Lisa is anything but believable. But it is still a Wonderful painting.