A Famous Cookbook From the Middle Ages!

Our Medieval Banquet and Faire is almost upon us, and it will be a day when we celebrate our year-long study of the Middle Ages. On this special day you will use what you've learned all year to step back in time and take on the role of a person who lived during this time period. However, what do we know about the food or the table manners of people who would have attended a banquet? Historians might use another interesting primary source document that has survived  from this period, The Frome of Cury. This is one of the oldest cookbooks written in the English language, and it is believed to have been written by King Richard II's master cooks. It is written in the form of a roll.

You need to know more about King Richard and food fit for a king, so here is the first chunk of a video for you to watch. 

If you want to know more, here are the other two chunks of this video:

Part 2:

Part 3, final part:

Time to review what you know about becoming a member of a medieval guild!

You have been working on your Medieval Banquet and Faire projects for several weeks. Hopefully you've learned a lot about how a person in the Middle Ages would become a member of  a craft or merchant guild. So, it is time for you to do a quick review of this process! 

1. Go to this web site and read about guilds. http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_guilds.php

1. Go to this second web page and take the quiz. Make sure you click DONE at the bottom of the quiz and then wait for your score.            http://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages_guilds_questions.php

1. Finally, do the exit ticket. 

This whole process shouldn't take you very long...maybe 15 minutes!


The pictures below show various medieval guilds

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Musicians in the Middle Ages

The life of a musician (also called a minstral) in the middle ages was generally seen as a desirable one. Minstrals might wander from town to town, playing at village squares or in ale houses, or they might be employed by a wealthy or royal family to play at a lord's feast or at a gathering at the royal court. Minstrals told stories through song, the most popular stories and tales being related to romance or the life of a knight. When traveling, minstrals might use light weight instruments like a fiddle or lute. If employed by a wealthy household or at the royal court, a musician might play heavier instruments like a tabor, clarion, or even bagpipes.
One interesting instrument from the middle ages is the hurdy gurdy.
How to play a Hurdy Gurdy from English Heritage on Vimeo.
You can see more pictures of this instrument and listen to some audio clips at this web site: http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/hurdy.htm

Medieval Market Then and Now!

There is an interesting town in England called Norwich. It was once a Saxon town and a thriving trade center. It became a Norman town under William the Conqueror and he founded a castle there between 1066 and 1075. Interestingly, the market still exists in Norwich today, and there are over 190 stalls with people selling all sorts of things from food to clothing and more! Here is a link to an interactive map of what the market place looked like in the year 1300 and what sorts of things people were selling: http://www.norwich-market.org.uk/Medieval/wares.shtm . Roll your cursor over the pictures bordering the map for more information! Here is a link to what the market looks like today: market.org.uk/stalls/stalls_videos_WMV/stalls_WMV.shtm  Roll your cursor over the numbers on the booths for information about what is being sold there today!

Medieval Guilds and Trade Fairs

The Crusades focused people's attention on religion, but they ended up having a powerful impact on Medieval Life in another way. They helped introduce people in Europe to new products from other countries, like spices, scented soaps, colorful rugs, and more. As people wanted to have these and other products, new trade routes opened and people from many countries began transporting their goods by land and by sea. Along some of the main routes, trade fairs were set up so merchants could sell their goods. Go to this web site and read more: http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/tradefairs.html.

Medieval Guilds

Knights and nobles weren't the only ones who used coats-of-arms. Medieval Guilds would often display a coat-of-arms in their guild hall. A guild was a group of skilled craftsmen who did the same job. So, a group of shoemakers living in the same town would have formed a guild to make sure shoes were made to a certain standard of quality, to make sure that they sold for a fair price, and to make sure that their members had specific skills. To become a guildsman, a person had to go through three steps: apprentice, journeyman, and finally, a master. The two shields above represent the blacksmith guild and the shoemaker guild.

Heraldry in American History.

The Arms of George Washington, 1st President of the United States. His shield appears on the Purple Heart as seen below. The original Purple Heart was established by George Washington as a Badge of Military Merit when he was Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, 1782. Today it is a United States military decoration awarded by the President to those who have been wounded or killed while in service since April 5, 1917.

Modern Day Heraldic Artist works magic!

The art of heraldry is practiced today. Andrew Stewart Jamieson creates magnificent coats-of-arms. See the video below.

Heralds record Coats-of-Arms in books called Rolls of Arms

Coats of Arms are more than just interesting colorful symbols placed on "awesome" shields. A Coat of Arms tells us about people and families that lived hundreds of years ago. In the middle ages it was a herald's job to know which coat of arms belonged to which knight or nobleman. Heralds often kept a record of coats of arms by drawing or painting them on a roll of parchment. It sometimes stayed in the form of a roll and other times it was made into a book. This record-keeping format became known as a Roll of Arms and it generally included rows of painted shields along with the name of the person who owned the coat of arms. Roll of Arms are important primary documents that preserve information about many generations of knights and families dating back to the 1200s and are still being made by 21^st century heralds today.

The above picture is of a page from the Hyghalmen Roll, Germany, dating back to 1485.

The Science of Heraldry

Heraldry, a system of using a variety of shapes and symbols on a shield or coat of arms to identify an individual or family, is almost 900 years old. The use of symbols on shields can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, a tapestry which we studied earlier this year and which is thought to have been made in the 1070's. It became a herald's job to create and keep records of the symbols and coats of arms. Go to the web site for the International Heraldry & Heralds to learn more and see amazing images:

http://www.internationalheraldry.com/

Below is a full achievement of arms

To play a heraldry game requiring skill,  Click Here! To create a shield online, Click Here!

Enjoy Our Illuminated Manuscripts!

Medieval Research and Manuscript Assignment

Ye shall research your assigned topic: Book of Hours.

Your final product will consist of the following:

An illuminated manuscript written in calligraphy on parchment. 

It should include the following:

• An illuminated letter
• A rubric…in Latin using calligraphy printing
• A historiated letter
• An inhabited margin
• A miniature painting 
• Text: should be a prayer, poem, etc. that you might recite at one of the eight times for prayer in your short version of a Book of Hours.                                                                     

A 21st Century Illuminator creates a 21st Century Illuminated Manuscript!

Calligraphers and illumination artists were jobs in the middle ages. However, they are also jobs in the 21st century! In 1998 a group of people at St. John's Abby and University met with master calligrapher Donald Jackson to start a project to create the first handwritten bible since the invention of the printing press! The bible is called The St. John's Bible. It is seven volumes, each 2 feet tall, and 3 feet wide when opened! It is made of vellum, has about 160 illuminations, and cost about $8 million dollars to produce!

To learn a little more about this modern day illuminated manuscript, go to this web page and click on Layout & Design and Tools and Materials. 

Click Here!

Young historians just like you study the art of illuminating letters! Below is a video of illuminated letter artwork created by elementary students.

What is the Book of Kells?

 

There are some wonderful illuminated manuscripts that have survived the test of time! Click Here!

The Making of an Illuminated Manuscript

Monks preserve history in illuminated manuscripts.

As you listen to the lyrics of the song sung on this video, you will hear a variety of the materials used to make the illuminations. Enjoy!

There were many steps necessary to make an illuminated manuscript, and a number of people were involved in the process. Go to this web site to find out more. Click Here!!!