People of the Castle

The King

As King I was the most important person in the Middle Ages. The peasants paid taxes to the lords and the lords paid taxes to me. I needed the money to run my castle and look after my country so what if the peasants had to work really hard it was for the good of the country. To keep the lords on my side I would give them gifts to keep them loyal to me. I also had the important and dangerous job of leading my army into battle. I have a big staff working for me to carry out all my orders.

The Lord

As Lord I often have a few castles and land around each which I look after. I would spend some time in each of them making sure everything was running smoothly. As the Lord I also fought in my King's army, he is really my boss. While I am away my good wife the Lady would run things. We both like to go hunting and to watch the Knights in jousting tournaments. We wore the finest clothes money could buy made from silk and other materials.

The Knight

I am a knight.The knight was the most important soldier in the Lords castle. Each of us began training at the age of seven by becoming a page.Only noble boys could become pages. Once fourteen I became a squire and worked for a Knight by dressing the knight for battle and other such things.In return the knight taught me how to fight. I was a good squire and eventually became a Knight. This happened at a celebration where the king touched me on the shoulder with a sword. Going into battle I had to wear armour to protect myself like in the picture.As Knights we also took part in jousting. This is when two knights on horseback raced towards each other and tried to knock each other off with a lance. Below a picture of Knights jousting.

The Chaplain

The Chaplain had a very important role in the castle. I had my own private chapel within the castle to hold services. The lady of the castle would often go to services as they were expected to. Outside the castle we wore cloaks with hoods and habits. On our clothes we had wooden beads to count prayers. I also had to teach the children.

We look next at the two very different lives of a princess and a peasant. You decide which you would prefer!
Peasant Girl Princess
  • A peasant lived in a shack.
  • A peasant slept in a straw filled pallet.
  • For breakfast a peasant had a slice of bread and water.
  • For dinner a peasant was lucky to have bread,water , goose eggs or fish.
  • The peasant girl worked on a small field growing crops helping her family and also on the lord's field.If the crop failed they starved.
  • Peasant girls wore long cotton tunics and shoes of leather wrapped around her feet.
  • A princess lived in a castle.
  • A princess slept in a large bed in the castle.
  • A princess had a breakfast feast prepared for her by servants.
  • A princess would have a feast along with her family in the great hall. The servants prepared deer, boar or swan for the lord along with bread and beer or wine made by the brewer.
  • A princess spent alot of time sewing and doing embroidery or going to jousting tournaments.
  • A princess would wear very fine clothes in rich colours made from silk. Kings and queens often wore crowns.
  • A husband was chosen for the princess by her father the Lord she had no choice but to go by her fathers decision.
This page was put together by 1st and 2nd class.