By the 13th century, a knight’s armour had changed in many ways. Most knights had mail mittens at the end of the sleeves of their hauberk. Theses were split along the palms so that the hands could be freed without taking off the rest of the armour. Helmets called flat-topped helms became [...]
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The invention of the stirrup enabled horse-soldiers or knights to wear heavy armour and, at the same time, to control their horses in battle. By the 11th century, knights were almost completely covered in mail armour. Mail was made of small interlocking steel rings so that each ring had four others linked through [...]
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This is a topic that I’ve skimmed over before but will go into more detail now.
Although knighting had been a simple affair during the early Middle Ages, the ceremony gradually became more and more complicated. By the end of the Middle Ages, it was performed in the grounds before some great castle amid great [...]
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At about the age of 14 if the page had made satisfactory progress he became a squire and, if he belonged to, or served in, a wealthy family, he put on silver spurs as a sign of his new status. As a squire, he had the right to carry a shield emblazoned with armorial [...]
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In the Middle Ages, some of the boys destined to become knights trained from early childhood in the knightly arts. The first stage in their military apprenticeship was served as a page in a noble’s household. A page learnt not only about military matters but also about honour and courteous behaviour, especially towards [...]
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The European Middle Ages between 800 and 1450 AD were dominated by the knight. In war, he was a skilled fighter and an armoured horse-soldier. In peacetime, he was a landowner and a ruler of men. The knight appeared at a time of great violence and bloodshed when Western Europe was attacked [...]
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Most wealthy men married when they were over 30. A son came into his inheritance on marriage, so parents often delayed the ceremony as long as possible. Women married earlier, usually when they were about 20, but were sometimes betrothed (promised in marriage) as young as seven.
For the rich, marriage was the alliance [...]
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Only guild members were allowed to trade in the city. They could not work at night or undercharge. By these methods the guild kept production down and prices up. Members who failed to maintain high standards of workmanship were fined or expelled from their guild.
Women rarely became full guild members. Some [...]
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One of the major reasons for the spread of plague in fourteenth century Europe was the generally wretched and squalid conditions in which most of the people lived. The vast majority of people were serfs or poor peasants. They lived in small villages of windowless thatched wooden huts.
People knew little of sanitation. [...]
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Physicians at Paris University claimed that the stars had infected the sea, causing it to give off a vapour, which fell as rain. The only way to protect yourself from this vapour was to light huge bonfires; then you had to make sure that you were not rained on, and that you did not [...]
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