I love the middle ages. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s partly because my job doesn’t require any real physical labor (other than staying awake); I don’t worry if the seasons will keep me from eating; I know I can get medical care. I think it all comes from visiting England as a kid and touring the castles. I always wondered what it would be like to live in one.
But I really don’t care about the Kings and Queens. But I am fascinated how regular people lived. How did they survive without modern technology? Quite well in some respects.
I really like the books by the Gies. They are interesting and readable. They try and tell about things through stories of real people. Sometimes the info is from official records, say court documents. In this case the whole story is often not told so if leaves me wondering to fill in the blank spaces. Also the way of life was so different than today it sometimes is hard to follow. The numerous celebration days for different saints and events, how the land was divided up and taxes were paid. I’ve read a few of their books talking about the rise of cities from villages. In fact they combinded three of these books into one. Check it out. Daily Life in Medieval Times: A Vivid, Detailed Account of Birth, Marriage and Death; Food, Clothing and Housing; Love and Labor in the Middle Ages
As for the romanticism of the Knight, it wasn’t all about chivalry. It was about money. Originally they were to serve the King and their Lords when needed. But it was expensive to maintain the gear needed so most knights had land. As he need for fighting men increased more knights were made, they are the lowest of the royal classes. They looted and pillaged on their travels, mostly to be able to pay their way and because many were subsequent sons who were not going to inherit anything. For as were learn in the book about the family, the eldest son gets everything. Everyone else gets a big fat nothing. Eventually over the ages this changed and the other siblings often got something, including the daughters. Back to the knights, they eventually became a sort of mercenary in a time when there wasn’t a standing army. After the battle or crusade, to keep them in line they were set up as monks and provided for. Eventually they kind of disappeared as expenses rose and technology (shooting devices) did them in.
When we think of the past we refer to it as the good old days. Even though they weren’t necessarily that good. I guess the knights really could be justified in wishing for the good old days.
