What is the purpose of a castle – Who do you imagine lived in one during Norman times?

STARTER

WILF:L3 – a simple model of l ife in a castle, sheet a l itt le information about l ife.L4 – A good model of l ife in a castle and your sheet has lots of description about l ife in a castle.L5 – An imaginative model, you’ve used symbols to represent and explained what they mean.

WALT: WHO LIVED IN A CASTLE AND WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE?

Remember the Feudal System, who do you think lived in Castles. There were hundreds built by the Normans. They didn’t all house the King…

WHO LIVED IN A CASTLE

Norman Lords! The vast majority of Norman Castles were built by Will iam’s lords and were guarded by the Lords’ personal armies.

Can you imagine what the defeated English felt about the Castles.

It was to the Castle that a peasant went to pay taxes, to seek justice and to off er services.

WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE

What can you see happening in this castle.

This is a class project. We will present information about Castles two weeks after half term (07/03/14). This requires research over half term.

For the fi rst lesson back (28/02/14) I need you to have researched the following about Norman Castles; ideally your research will involve visiting one of the many Norman Castles in Kent.

TASK – HOMEWORK

You will now have time as a Group to create a worksheet of information for Year 6’s that have never seen a castle before.

You will need to include lots of information about Daily life in a Castle.

You will need to create some models for them using the PlayDoh – You need to put information around the model explaining what it is you have made and what it represents.

TASK

L3 – a simple model of life in a castle, sheet a little information about life.

L4 – A good model of l ife in a castle and your sheet has lots of description about life in a castle.

L5 – An imaginative model, you’ve used symbols to represent and explained what they mean.

Who lives in a castle?How many?Who does what in a castle?Soldiers?Lords?Servants?

How could you represent this?

O f t e n , t h e l o r d w a s g r a n t e d p o s s e s s i o n o f m o r e t h a n o n e l o r d s h i p o r e a r l d o m s o h a d t o d i v i d e h i s t i m e a m o n g a l l o f h i s p r o p e r t i e s . H i s p o w e r s w e r e p o l i t i c a l , j u d i c i a l , fi s c a l , a n d a l s o i n c l u d e d t h e p o l i c i n g o f h i s t e r r i t o r y. L i k e h i s k i n g , h e c o u l d m e t e o u t p u n i s h m e n t , c o l l e c t r e n t f r o m h i s s u b j e c t s , a n d e v e n m i n t h i s o w n c o i n s .

W h e n t h e l o r d h a d o b l i g a t i o n s t h a t t o o k h i m a w a y f r o m t h e c a s t l e , a s w a s f r e q u e n t l y t h e c a s e , h i s m a i n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e w a s t h e s t e w a r d , a l s o c a l l e d t h e s e n e s c h a l . T h e s t e w a r d a c t u a l l y h a d s u b s t a n t i a l p o w e r o f h i s o w n , b e c a u s e h e h a d t o k n o w v i r t u a l l y e v e r y t h i n g t h a t w e n t o n a t t h e c a s t l e a n d i n t h e s u r r o u n d i n g e s t a t e s . S o , h e h a d t o b e s k i l l e d a t a c c o u n t i n g a n d l e g a l m a t t e r s , a s w e l l a s p e r s o n n e l m a n a g e m e n t .

O t h e r k e y m e m b e r s o f t h e h o u s e h o l d s t a ff i n c l u d e d t h e c h a m b e r l a i n ( i n c h a r g e o f t h e g r e a t c h a m b e r / h a l l ) , t h e c h a p l a i n , t h e k e e p e r o f t h e w a r d r o b e , t h e b u t l e r ( a l s o k n o w n a s t h e b o t t l e r , h e e n s u r e d t h e r e w a s e n o u g h d r i n k s t o r e d i n t h e b u t t e r y ) , t h e c o o k , t h e c h a n d l e r ( w h o m a d e c a n d l e s ) , a n d t h e m a r s h a l ( w h o w a s i n c h a r g e o f t h e s t a b l e s ) . E a c h o f t h e s e i n d i v i d u a l s h a d t h e i r o w n s t a ff t o m a n a g e .

T h e l a d y o f t h e c a s t l e w a s s e r v e d b y l a d i e s - i n - w a i t i n g a n d c h a m b e r m a i d s . S h e s p e n t m u c h o f t h e d a y o v e r s e e i n g t h e i r w o r k , a s w e l l a s s u p e r v i s i n g t h e a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e k i t c h e n s t a ff . T h e l a d y a l s o k e p t a n e y e o n h e r l a r g e g r o u p o f s p i n n e r s , w e a v e r s , a n d e m b r o i d e r e r s w h o h a d t h e e n o r m o u s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f k e e p i n g e v e r y o n e c l o t h e d , a n d o ff e r i n g t h e l a d y c o m p a n i o n s h i p . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e l a d i e s w e r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r e d u c a t i n g t h e y o u n g p a g e s w h o , a t t h e a g e o f 7 , c a m e t o t h e c a s t l e t o l e a r n r e l i g i o n , m u s i c , d a n c e , h u n t i n g , r e a d i n g , a n d w r i t i n g b e f o r e m o v i n g i n t o k n i g h t ' s s e r v i c e a s s q u i r e s .

A t 1 4 , y o u n g b o y s b e c a m e s q u i r e s , a n d t h e l o r d p l a c e d t h e m u n d e r t h e g u i d a n c e o f a k n o w l e d g e a b l e k n i g h t w h o w o u l d t e a c h t h e m a b o u t c h i v a l r y a s w e l l a s h o w t o w i e l d a s w o r d o r r i d e a h o r s e i n t o b a t t l e . A y o u t h ' s u l t i m a t e g o a l w a s k n i g h t h o o d , w h i c h c o u l d b e a t t a i n e d a t t h e a g e o f 2 1 w h e n t h e b o y s o ffi c i a l l y b e c a m e m e n . M a n y k n i g h t s b e c a m e h i g h l y s k i l l e d w a r r i o r s a n d s p e n t p e a c e t i m e t r a v e l i n g t o t o u r n a m e n t s t o p i t c h t h e m s e l v e s i n t o i n d i v i d u a l c o m b a t w i t h o t h e r a s p i r i n g k n i g h t s . T h e t o u r n a m e n t s w e r e g o o d t r a i n i n g g r o u n d s f o r r e a l w a r f a r e .

W h e n a g r o u p o f s o l d i e r s w a s s t a t i o n e d a t a c a s t l e , t h e y c o m p r i s e d i t s g a r r i s o n . I n d i v i d u a l m e m b e r s i n c l u d e d t h e k n i g h t s , s q u i r e s , a p o r t e r ( t o t e n d t h e m a i n d o o r ) , g u a r d s , w a t c h m e n , a n d m e n - a t - a r m s . A l l w e r e p r e p a r e d t o d e f e n d t h e i r l o r d a n d h i s h o u s e h o l d i n a n i n s t a n t . E a c h s o l d i e r h a d h i s o w n p l a c e i n a n a t t a c k a n d h i s o w n s k i l l t o r e l y u p o n . S o m e w e r e c r o s s b o w m e n , a r c h e r s , l a n c e r s , o r w i e l d e d s w o r d s . M e d i e v a l w a r f a r e w a s d e fi n i t e l y a h i g h l y c o m p l e x p r o c e s s , d e s p i t e t h e s i m p l i c i t y o f t h e w e a p o n s .

C a s t l e s m u s t h a v e b e e n n o i s y - a n d s m e l l y - p l a c e s . L i v e s t o c k r o a m e d i n s i d e t h e s t a b l e s , b l a c k s m i t h s c l a n g e d o u t i r o n w o r k i n t h e f o r g e s , t h e s o l d i e r s p r a c t i c e d t h e i r s k i l l s , a n d c h i l d r e n p l a y e d w h e n l e s s o n s w e r e c o m p l e t e d . Va r i o u s c r a f t s m e n w o r k e d d i l i g e n t l y i n t h e i n n e r w a r d , i n c l u d i n g c o b b l e r s ( m a k i n g s h o e s ) , a r m o r e r s , c o o p e r s ( w h o m a d e c a s k s ) , h o o p e r s ( w h o h e l p e d t h e c o o p e r s b u i l d t h e b a r r e l s ) , b i l l e r s ( m a k i n g a x e s ) , a n d s p e n c e r s ( w h o d i s p e n s e d ) .

T h e i n t e r i o r w a l l s w e r e u s e d t o s u p p o r t t i m b e r s t r u c t u r e s , l i k e t h e w o r k s h o p s a n d t h e s t a b l e s , a n d , s o m e t i m e s , s t o n e b u i l d i n g s a l s o l e a n e d a g a i n s t t h e w a l l s . F i r e s b u r n e d . T h e w e l l a n d c i s t e r n s o ff e r e d w a t e r . S e r v a n t s w e r e c o n s t a n t l y b u s t l i n g , t a k i n g c a r e o f t h e p e r s o n a l n e e d s o f t h e h o u s e h o l d , b u t a l s o fi n d i n g t i m e f o r g o s s i p a n d fl i r t a t i o n .

A t m i d - m o r n i n g , d i n n e r w a s s e r v e d . T h i s w a s t h e m a i n m e a l o f t h e d a y , a n d o f t e n f e a t u r e d t h r e e o r f o u r c o u r s e s , a s w e l l a s e n t e r t a i n m e n t . A f t e r d i n n e r , t h e d a y ' s a c t i v i t i e s w o u l d r e s u m e , o r t h e l o r d m i g h t l e a d h i s g u e s t s o n a h u n t t h r o u g h t h e g r o u n d s o f h i s n e a r b y d e e r p a r k . R e c r e a t i o n w a s n e v e r i g n o r e d !

T h e e v e n i n g m e a l , s u p p e r , w a s g e n e r a l l y e a t e n l a t e i n t h e d a y , s o m e t i m e s j u s t b e f o r e b e d t i m e . W h i l e n o t a s f o r m i d a b l e a s d i n n e r , t h i s m e a l e n s u r e d r e s i d e n t s w o u l d n e v e r b e h u n g r y w h e n t h e y s e t t l e d d o w n t o s l e e p o ff t h e d a y ' s l a b o r s .

W e c a n o n l y i m a g i n e t h a t , t h o u g h t h e p e o p l e w o r k e d h a r d d u r i n g t h e M i d d l e A g e s , t h e y a l s o c o m p e n s a t e d b y p l a y i n g h a r d . H o l i d a y s w e r e t i m e s f o r l e t t i n g l o o s e o f i n h i b i t i o n s a n d f o r g e t t i n g t h e s t r e s s e s o f l i f e . T h e p e a s a n t s a s w e l l a s t h e c a s t l e ' s h o u s e h o l d f o u n d t i m e f o r p l e a s u r e , a n d m a d e u p f o r t h e i r s t r u g g l e s a s b e s t t h e y c o u l d . I n t h i s m o d e r n a g e o f t e c h n o l o g i c a l c o n v e n i e n c e , w e m u s t a d m i r e t h e i r p e r s e v e r a n c e .

Now tell someone else in the room as many facts about Daily Life in a Castle as you can.

Let them add to your list. Can you remember everything you have learnt between you?

PLENARY