Lifestyles of the Rich (and Poor) & Feudal – pt. 1 (Medieval Mondays #4c)

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Janna G. Noelle

The medieval times, we’re well aware, hardly boasted an equal society.

Rather, the feudal system saw a single, all-powerful monarch as ruler of everyone and everything; a couple handfuls of earls or other magnates – direct liegemen of the king – below that; many more subinfeudated lords of lesser nobility below the magnates, sometimes two or three levels down; and finally, at the lowest levels of society, the non-noble peasants who held land in exchange for their labour upon it in producing their lord’s food.

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Making Rent in the Middle Ages (Medieval Mondays #4b)

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Medieval knights paying a portion of their “knight’s fees”

In modern times, rents on property are paid in money. In the medieval England and elsewhere, however, payment for a vassal’s fief or a villein’s farmland took a rather different form.

A vassal’s assorted obligations to his lord – his so-called “knight’s fee” – were collectively deemed military in nature. However, as mentioned in my previous post on the feudal system, this isn’t to say all of a vassal’s responsibilities involved fighting.

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Resistance was Feudal (Medieval Mondays #4a)

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Medieval commendation ritual

Life in the medieval times was the ultimate pyramid scheme. It was also a perilous numbers game in which, perhaps unsurprisingly, the number that trumped everything (except when it didn’t) was one.

In the history books, all of this is more commonly referred to as the feudal system, which was the dominant structure of society in England for some four hundred years, and in continental Europe, even longer.

In this first of three post on this subject, I’ll provide a general overview of what the feudal system was.

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Home is Where Too Many Hearts Were (Medieval Mondays #3b)

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Remnants of Peveril Castle’s keep: the basement as viewed from the upper level

Peveril Castle, located in Derbyshire, England – the site where much of my novel-in-progress takes place – had one of the smallest examples of a castle keep in England.

As shown in the artist’s rendition to the right, it contained only two rooms – a principal chamber and a basement underneath that was likely used for storage and accessed via a spiral staircase.

The keep also had a latrine, a wall cupboard, and a large window looking out over the rest of the castle and the surrounding Hope Valley, but it didn’t have a fireplace, any food service rooms, or even a well.

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A Castle was a (Noble)Man’s (and Woman’s) Home (Medieval Mondays #3a)

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Remnants of the keep and curtain wall of Peveril Castle in Derbyshire, England

As a child, I used to like drawing pictures of medieval castles.

These drawings always took a similar form: a large square in the middle of the paper, two taller turrets on either side, and a wall that extended the remaining length of the page on either side. I even owned a stencil that had a guide for making square waves that I used on the upper edges of each part of the picture.

For a frontal, ground level representation by an eight-year-old, I actually think I did pretty well, having depicted the three key components of the average medieval English castle: the keep, the tower, and the curtain wall.

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in the Middle Ages? (Medieval Mondays #2c)

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Dinner scene from the Luttrell Psalter (c.1320-1340, Lincolnshire, England)

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13^th century dinner table.

The time has now come to take a seat at said table and finish finding out.

The very first point of difference one might encounter relates to the time of day “dinner” was actually served. One might expect that turning up anywhere between 6:00 and 8:00pm as is common for modern dinners (particularly in North America) would also apply to the 13^th century.

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Medieval Meals Made Not-So-Easy (Medieval Mondays #2b)

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Cooking scene from the Luttrell Psalter (c.1320-1340, Lincolnshire, England)

In the medieval times, our modern emphasis on easy, speedy meals would’ve been an inconceivably foreign concept to a noble family.

In my previous post on medieval food, I discussed the raw ingredients that comprised medieval cookery.

In turning now to discuss how that cookery was done and what recipes often resulted, a key point made by Margaret Wade Labarge, author of Mistress, Maids and Men: Baronial Life in the Thirteenth Century, is as follows:

The medieval baron liked a complicated and highly seasoned dish. (p.118).

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What’s On the Menu in the Middle Ages? (Medieval Mondays #2a)

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Kitchen scene from the Luttrell Psalter (c.1320-40)

Kitchen scene from the Luttrell Psalter (c.1320-1340, Lincolnshire, England)

If you were magically transported back to early 13th century England and invited to dinner in a noble household, what sort of experience would await you?

An experience so different, it will be the subject of three separate posts in this blog series, the first of which (today’s) focuses on the raw ingredients of medieval cuisine.

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Clothing Made the Medieval Man, Woman & Child (Medieval Mondays #1)

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

Three versions of Maid Marion (a 13th century character), of which the fox's outfit comes closest.

Three versions of Maid Marian (a 13th century character associated with Robin Hood), of which the more authentic outfit is that of the fox.

If there’s one aspect of medieval history I love most, it’s the clothing, especially women’s clothing.

The clothing, incidentally, is one of the aspects Hollywood most often get wrong.

Typically, this occurs through clothing styles from one century being mis-attributing to another. This despite what author Mary G. Houston writes in Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Centuries:

What can be more diverse than the noble simplicity of construction and natural silhouette of the thirteenth century, compared with the slender elegance of the fourteenth, and the riot of variety and exaggeration in the fifteenth century. (pp. v-vi)

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The Medieval Times Was No Fairytale

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Janna G. Noelle

**I often wonder if I would have enjoyed living in medieval England as much as I do writing about it.**

Obviously the answer to this question depends upon a few considerations. For example, does medieval me look the same as modern me? There’s no reason to expect she wouldn’t, in which case, I’ll defer to comedian and social critic Louis C.K. for a response:

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A Frame Around Infinity

Tag Archives: History

Lifestyles of the Rich (and Poor) & Feudal – pt. 1 (Medieval Mondays #4c)

The medieval times, we’re well aware, hardly boasted an equal society.

Making Rent in the Middle Ages (Medieval Mondays #4b)

In modern times, rents on property are paid in money. In the medieval England and elsewhere, however, payment for a vassal’s fief or a villein’s farmland took a rather different form.

Resistance was Feudal (Medieval Mondays #4a)

Life in the medieval times was the ultimate pyramid scheme. It was also a perilous numbers game in which, perhaps unsurprisingly, the number that trumped everything (except when it didn’t) was one.

Home is Where Too Many Hearts Were (Medieval Mondays #3b)

Peveril Castle, located in Derbyshire, England – the site where much of my novel-in-progress takes place – had one of the smallest examples of a castle keep in England.

A Castle was a (Noble)Man’s (and Woman’s) Home (Medieval Mondays #3a)

As a child, I used to like drawing pictures of medieval castles.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in the Middle Ages? (Medieval Mondays #2c)

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13^th century dinner table.

Medieval Meals Made Not-So-Easy (Medieval Mondays #2b)

In the medieval times, our modern emphasis on easy, speedy meals would’ve been an inconceivably foreign concept to a noble family.

What’s On the Menu in the Middle Ages? (Medieval Mondays #2a)

If you were magically transported back to early 13th century England and invited to dinner in a noble household, what sort of experience would await you?

Clothing Made the Medieval Man, Woman & Child (Medieval Mondays #1)

If there’s one aspect of medieval history I love most, it’s the clothing, especially women’s clothing.

The Medieval Times Was No Fairytale

**I often wonder if I would have enjoyed living in medieval England as much as I do writing about it.**

The medieval times, we’re well aware, hardly boasted an equal society.

In modern times, rents on property are paid in money. In the medieval England and elsewhere, however, payment for a vassal’s fief or a villein’s farmland took a rather different form.

Life in the medieval times was the ultimate pyramid scheme. It was also a perilous numbers game in which, perhaps unsurprisingly, the number that trumped everything (except when it didn’t) was one.

Peveril Castle, located in Derbyshire, England – the site where much of my novel-in-progress takes place – had one of the smallest examples of a castle keep in England.

As a child, I used to like drawing pictures of medieval castles.

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13th century dinner table.

In the medieval times, our modern emphasis on easy, speedy meals would’ve been an inconceivably foreign concept to a noble family.

If you were magically transported back to early 13th century England and invited to dinner in a noble household, what sort of experience would await you?

If there’s one aspect of medieval history I love most, it’s the clothing, especially women’s clothing.

I often wonder if I would have enjoyed living in medieval England as much as I do writing about it.

I first began this series on medieval food by questioning what sort of experience one would have if transported back in time to a 13^th century dinner table.

**I often wonder if I would have enjoyed living in medieval England as much as I do writing about it.**