Ms. Frank's 5th Grade: Medieval

Showing posts with label Medieval. Show all posts

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Milena tells you the answer to the question "Could a female embroiderer's apprentice in the Middle Ages be literate?"

Literate Female Embroiderer's Apprentice in the Middle Ages

(Outline for paper)

By Milena Weide

       I.         Could a female embroiderer’s apprentice in the Middle Ages be literate?

      II.         While it was not common for women to be literate, if you had the right circumstances a woman could be a literate and a skilled craftswoman, like an embroiderer.
A. For example, there was a woman named Christine de Pisan who lived in the late 1300s and early 1400s. She wrote for a living. She is famous because this was very rare.
B. Millions of uneducated people in Europe could not read.
1. Books were very rare. They were generally found only in monastery libraries until 1200.
A. Monks wrote the books by hand, and professional scribes and illuminators (people who decorated the first letter of a book like in a story book), began to get paid for writing books by the wealthy.
C. Generally men were the literate people in Medieval culture because it was mostly boys who were going into a religious order where they were taught to read and write.
1. However, girls who entered religious orders might also be taught to read and write, but this was less common.
a. Girls were mostly taught how to run a household, instead of being sent to school.

     III.         Apprenticeship was rigidly enforced, being seen as the only acceptable path into a craft, and it took different periods of time according to the demands of the craft being learned.
A. To start an apprenticeship the master was paid a large sum of money, and the apprentice took a ceremonial oath. The child was bound to work for his master by law.
B. Masters and apprentices usually formed close bonds, probably because the masters had to care for their apprentices, providing them with food, clothes, and a place to live.
C. Most of the day was spent in the workshop, hard work was expected from the apprentice, and if expectations were not met, the master could release their apprentice, and charge the apprentice’s family a fee.

   IV.         Embroidery guilds protected their ‘participants’ (masters and apprentices) from abuse, as well as set regulations, and prices.
A. The cost of a piece depended on the cost of materials, and the cost of time, or labor.
B. Usually the embroiderers themselves didn’t make the designs (for what was to be stitched), but were given the designs.
b. If an apprentice came up with a new design, their master was allowed to steal it from them, and pretend that they had come up with it.

    V.         In 1386, a French priest wrote, “It is clear that man is much nobler than woman, and of greater virtue.”
A. Men were often sent to get an education at a school, or as an apprentice, while the girls were kept at home. A girl’s parents were sometimes faced with the option to send their daughter to school, or to apprentice her, but it was less often that you would see an educated woman than to see an educated man in the Middle Ages.

   VI.         Until 1200, books were very rare. The books that existed were all hand written, and the monks that wrote them spent numerous hours in the “scriptorium” copying out religious texts. Books were mainly found in monastery libraries.

VII.         In Medieval times the majority of schooling took place in monasteries, convents, and cathedrals. Children (mostly boys) got a basic education in reading, and writing. They also spent a lot of their time learning Bible passages, and prayers by heart. They weren’t allowed to talk to each other, and they got beaten with a birch rod when their attention wandered. The main source of schooling was the church.

VIII.         Children, starting around the age of seven, were sent to school. They were mostly boys destined to the holy order.

   IX.         Literate people in the Middle Ages could join holy orders to write (religious texts), or write books themselves like Christine de Pisan.

    X.         Embroidery in the Middle Ages must have had some importance, because in a world revolving around survival, women spent a portion of their time embroidering.

   XI.         In Medieval times, almost all of the wealthy person's things had embroidery on them.
A. In fact a lot of embroideries had a religious importance, sometimes depicting biblical scenes.
B. There were even embroideries made to cover coffins!

XII.         Almost anything could be embroidered on. In fact, they couldn’t print anything on cloth, so embroidery must have been like their version of that.

XIII.         Embroidery had many household uses, or rather the cloth that was embroidered on had many household uses. It could be on a cover, a hat, a gown, or just on a decoration, and many more things.

XIV.         Even though it was not common for women to be literate in the Middle Ages, some were, and it is possible that one of them was a skilled embroiderer. As apprenticeship was seen as the only acceptable route into a craft, such as embroidery, the skilled female embroiderer was most likely an apprentice at some point in time. So, for all we know, she was literate at the time that she was still an embroiderer’s apprentice. In conclusion, yes it was possible for a female embroiderer’s apprentice in the Middle Ages to be literate.

Friday, June 10, 2016

The Treatment of the Lower Classes in the Middle Ages, by Sarina

Dear Class,

Sarina is sharing her research with us. Please enjoy this thorough outline!

Lower classes were not treated fairly in a Middle Ages.
A. The lower class was treated very unfairly (almost like slaves).
1.In the beginning Middle Ages, there was a closed cast system. Near the end of the Middle Ages, because of the new commercial class, there was an open cast system. Open cast systems were definitely more fair than closed cast system.
B.90%of the people worked on land in poverty.
2.Peasants also had to pay the church 10% of everything they produce. The church got richer and richer while the peasants got more and more poor. And everyone also had to pay for their protection.
Life in the Middle Ages was very rough. The weak government was unable to protect the people so many were at the mercy of invaders and bandits.
A. Districts had to look after themselves and everyone sought protection from their nearest powerful neighbor.
B. The lower classes faced many hardships from having little food and having a long day of hard labor. Many people also suffered injuries and diseases that had no found cure. The Black Death killed much of the population in Europe and life was hard when bad weather brought bad crops.
3. Peasants were on the bottom of the feudal system and if you were one, you were probably likely to suffer most of these cases. Peasants worked on the lord’s land for a living.
4. Servants lived in the manor house and were closely watched by the lady. Though they were not as poor as the peasants, they also worked very hard. The steward was in charge of all the servants and sent them to clean, cook, serve, and run errands. Since they didn’t have a bathtub, the servants had to wash in the local river to try to try to get rid of lice and fleas.
The lord himself ,however, lived far more comfortably and essentially owned everything the peasants used.
A.The lord was supported by the taxes the peasants paid and did not have to worry about not having enough to eat. In total, the ruling class consisted of kings, nobles, military, and religious leaders.
1. In the Middle Ages, the queen or king was the most important person in the country. Kings often fought each other and most nobles were also knights. Nobles enjoyed hunting, tournaments and games.
2.The lord and his family lived in a castle or a manor house. A castle was not exactly a luxury home. Though the lord did seem to live a reasonably comfortable life, the castle was built for protection and not for comfort. Usually, only the lord and his family would sleep in real beds. The lord also used his manor house to to place soldiers, hold tournaments,and have great banquets.
3. The lord and his family ate at the great hall while minstrels and jesters entertained them and large amounts of food was served. If there were leftovers, they would be flung to the dogs or given to the poor.
B. The main business of the lord and his knights was warfare. The lord’s sons were trained in horsemanship and handling as well as social skills.
1. The lord controlled the castle itself and the land and people. The lord usually had more land than he could manage so they started to grant land to tenants. He also directed the training of squires. Some of the lord’s duties were to fight for his overlord and advise him on whether to start a war or not. If the lord proved disloyal, the overlord could take back the lord’s land and give it to someone else.
2. The lady was in charge to the day-to-day running of the manor. She supervised the kitchen, gave orders for feasts, paid expenses, and entertained guests.
The church was very powerful in the middle ages. There were usually conflicts between the church and the king so they had to try very hard to get along. The church,like the king also controlled large areas of land and grew rich from the taxes paid by peasants.
During the middle ages, a large part of europe was organized by a system called feudalism.
A. Strictly speaking, feudalism involved only noble classes though the system rested on the work of serfs or villeins who supported the lord.
2. Nobles in the Middle Ages fought for control over the rich farmlands in Europe. They gave loyal knights manors to rule to rule in exchange for their help fighting. Everyone was born in a specific status. This was called feudalism. The feudal system was a system of rights and obligations based on ownership patterns. The term feudalism therefore describes an entire way of life.
3. Serfs were unfree. They couldn’t leave the land they were born on without permission from the lord. Today, the upper class either inherited or achieved wealth.
B. Europe was organized by the feudal system during the Middle Ages.
1. Feudalism grew in the age of disorder and was gradually established between the 8th and 11th centuries. The feudal system especially flourished from the 11th to 13th centuries. During the fourteenth century, national states were already taking the place of feudal governments.
2. A vassal could take the oath of fealty to many different overlords, who didn’t owe fealty to one another. So, the system led to endless conflict. Towns grew in wealth and the feudal system became intolerable.
3. Soon gunpowder came into use, making castles much easier to conquer.
4. Feudalism died out when a commercial class emerged to join nobles and peasants. Today, the upper class still either inherited or achieved wealth.
Life in the middle Ages would be more fair if lower classes had the same freedom, chance, and opportunity as noble classes.
A.Peasants had little meat and ate meals of pottage while the lord had grand and enjoyable feasts.
1.Free peasants lived in more justice because they didn’t have as many fines and fees as serfs. Peasants didn’t really own anything while nobles had power over lots of land.
2. The family of a noble had the chance to enjoy the entertainment of musicians and jugglers while the lower class didn’t even have enough food to eat.
B. the lord did a lot of the decision and peasants did more physical labor in the fields.