JHH 6.3 PIH Essay Notes

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A Medieval Lord or Lady of a medieval castle

The lord and lady are the first two people you learn about when you study the Middle Ages. They're near the top in the feudal system in which medieval society was organised, coming under the King. The King would grant the lord land, which the lord would take charge of for the King. The lord would also help the King to defend the land.

When a lord got married, his wife became the lady of the castle or manor (depending on which the lord lived in). Marriage between lords and ladies was arranged by their parents.

The Lord or Lady option has come up twice in recent years, and will very likely do so again in the next few years. So now that you're moving on from describing a whole civilisation to describing the lives of certain people, how do you do it?

First of all you must decide if you are a lord or a lady! Then explain your place in the feudal system. Who are you under? Who are you above? Talk about how you met your husband/wife. Who arranged the marriage? What is a dowry?

Next, talk about your castle. In this chapter you learn about two different types of castle, the wooden motte and bailey, and the stronger stone castles. In order to mention both, you could say that you used to live in a motte and bailey, but that was burned down and now you live in a stone castle. Explain the different parts of the castle, and describe how you (or your husband) and your knights would defend it if it was attacked or put under siege.

Once you've finished talking about your castle, go on to talk about your roles and duties. What are your jobs? What does the king expect you to do for him? This part will have different answers depending on whether you choose to be a lord or a lady.

Next, talk about life inside the castle - especially feasts. What food do you eat? What kind of entertainment is provided?

You can finish by talking about how you (or your husband) organise tournaments and jousts for the knights, and why this is important.

So, in short...

Are you a lord or a lady? Explain your part in the feudal system.

How you met your husband/wife and who arranged the marriage.

Your castle: the parts of it, how it can be defended, how attackers might try to capture it.

Your roles and duties as either a lord or a lady.

Talk about feasts.

Talk about organising tournaments and jousts for the knights.

Don't....

Talk about anything that isn't based around a solid fact like you learn in class. No small talk!

Making mistakes like that will cost you marks, as the information you write down must be relevant (important). You get 2 marks for every relevant point you make, so try to make sure you have at least 10 relevant points in each answer. The more you have, the less chance you have of losing too many marks if you get anything wrong or mix anything up.

Example - A lord or lady living in a medieval castle

My name is Lord John Fitzgerald and I live in a castle in Co. Kilkenny. My grandfather originally came from Normandy in France. I own a large amount of land and I have lots of knights and foot soldiers to protect me. My castle is built of local limestone and granite and the main building is called the keep. The walls are very thick and the building is five storeys high.

There is an outer wall surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge is used for security. There is also a special spiked gate called a portcullis. My greatest fear is that my castle could come under attack from enemies using battering rams and siege towers and that we may be under a siege that could last for weeks. We have our own well inside the courtyard and we keep supplies of extra food in the basement of the main building.

The main living area for my family and I is on the top floor. We also have our own private chapel. To get to our living area we have to use the very narrow spiral stairs. There are very narrow windows and it is very cold. The Solar is the warmest room because it faces south. In the floor below us is the Great Hall and all the really important banquets are held there. It has two huge open fires and large tapestries hang on the walls. Soldiers also sometimes sleep there. My main pastimes are holding great banquets in which entertainment is provided by jesters and musicians. I also like to go hunting in the wintertime and in the summer we organise tournaments. Occasionally, I have to act as a judge and the court is held in the Great Hall. We have dungeons in the basement of the keep and sometimes prisoners are held there. Very serious crimes are punished by death.

(a) Duties of the lady of the castles

A lady of a castle had the task of the daily running of the castle. She and her husband usually lived on the top floor of the castle and they even had their own private chapel. The primary role of the lady of the castle was to rear their children and to make sure they were well educated. In most castles the lady was also in charge of the training of a young boy from another castle who was called a page-boy. It was the duty of the lady of the castle to look after him and to educate him and teach him good manners. The lady of the castle spent a part of each day in a special room called the solar, which was always facing south and received the most sunlight. She would play games such as chess and also spend a lot of time doing embroidery.

My name is Lord Hugh de Lacy and I live in a castle in Co. Waterford. I own a large amount of land and I have lots of knights and foot soldiers to protect me. My castle is built of local limestone and granite and the main building is called the keep. The walls are very thick and the building is five storeys high. There is an outer wall surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge is used for security. There is also a special spiked gate called a portcullis. My greatest fear is that my castle could come under attack from enemies using battering rams and siege towers and that we may be under siege for several weeks. We have our own well inside the courtyard and we keep supplies of extra food in the basement of the main building. The main living area for my family and I is on the top floor. We also have our own private chapel. To get to our living area we have to use the very narrow spiral stairs. There are very narrow windows and it is very cold. The solar is the warmest room because it faces south. In the floor below us is the great hall and all the really important banquets are held there. It has two huge open fires and large tapestries hang on the walls. Soldiers also sometimes sleep there. My main pastimes are holding great banquets in which entertainment is provided by jesters and musicians. I also like to go hunting in the winter and in the summer we organise jousting competitions between knights on horseback. Occasionally, I have to act as a judge and the court is held in the great hall. We have dungeons in the basement of the keep and sometimes prisoners are held there. Very serious crimes are punished by death.