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1 UNIT 4 - CASTLES, KNIGHTS AND CHIVALRY 1. CASTLES 11 th -12 th century castle with its stone KEEP A castle was the private residence and military headquarters of a lord. The first castles possibly appeared in north-western France in the ninth century. They were built as a defence against attack in civil wars and also against attacks by the Vikings. At first they were wooden constructions, but they burnt easily, so by the end of the eleventh century stone was used. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 he immediately built a wooden castle to defend his position while he waited for King Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon monarch, to arrive. It only took him seventeen days to build. He fought Harold at the Battle of Hastings and we all know the result! Motte and Bailey Like William’s first castle, the castles of the 10 th to the 12 th centuries usually consisted of a ditch and rampart with wooden fences. From the 11 th century many had a mound (called a motte) made of earth and with a wooden tower on top. In the courtyard (called the bailey) below were all the domestic buildings. They are called motte and bailey castles. A MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE After William became king he began to construct castles throughout England, so that the local Norman lord could easily dominate the surrounding territory.

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UNIT 4 - CASTLES, KNIGHTS AND CHIVALRY 1. CASTLES

11th -12th century castle with its stone KEEP

A castle was the private residence and military headquarters of a lord. The first castles possibly appeared in north-western France in the ninth century. They were built as a defence against attack in civil wars and also against attacks by the Vikings. At first they were wooden constructions, but they burnt easily, so by the end of the eleventh century stone was used. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 he immediately built a wooden castle to defend his position while he waited for King Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon monarch, to arrive. It only took him seventeen days to build. He fought Harold at the Battle of Hastings and we all know the result! Motte and Bailey Like William’s first castle, the castles of the 10th to the 12th centuries usually consisted of a ditch and rampart with wooden fences. From the 11th century many had a mound (called a motte) made of earth and with a wooden tower on top. In the courtyard (called the bailey) below were all the domestic buildings. They are called motte and bailey castles.

A MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE

After William became king he began to construct castles throughout England, so that the local Norman lord could easily dominate the surrounding territory.

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Strength in Stone The stone keep became common in the late 11th and 12th centuries. The keep often contained rooms for the lord and his family. The bailey was surrounded by stone walls with square towers. Rounds towers appeared in the 12th century – they were easier to defend than square towers.

NOBLE’S ROOMS GREAT HALL GUARDROOMS STOREROOMS

Concentric Castles These were first built in the 13th century. They had two rings of walls, giving two different lines of defence. The inner ring was often higher, so that archers could fire down on attackers.

HIGHER INNER WALL

LOWER OUTER WALL

SPIRAL STAIRCASE

THE KEEP

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ACTIVITIES 1. LABEL the picture below with the correct vocabulary:

Bailey Domestic buildings Motte Fence Ditch Tower Rampart

2. QUESTIONS Answer these questions in your exercise book. 1. Give three reasons for the construction of castles. 2. Give a short summary of the development of castles in three stages. 3. Look at paragraph 1. What was the result of the Battle of Hastings? What happened there? What were the effects on English society? Write notes.

3. What do these common expressions mean? Explain their meaning in English. “An Englishman’s home is his castle”………………………………............................................................ ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. “Castles in Spain”/“Castles in the air”……………………………………..................................................... ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“A knight in shining armour”…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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WEBSITES http://www.castlesontheweb.com/ www.castles-of-britain.com www.castlewales.com www.leedscastle.com www.royalarmouries.org www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/tower_home.asp (website for the White Tower) www.warwick-castle.co.uk www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass (search for “knight”, “armour”, etc) 2. EDWARD I OF ENGLAND AND THE OCCUPATION OF WALES

CAERNARFON CASTLE IN NORTH WALES

A CASTLE WAS A SYMBOL OF POWER. IN THE 13

TH CENTURY EDWARD I OF ENGLAND BUILD

CAERNARFON TO IMPRESS THE CONQUERED WELSH PEOPLE.

During William the Conqueror’s reign he established three important lords based along the frontier with the mountainous country of Wales. These lords (the Marcher earls of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford) protected the frontier lands from attack by the Welsh. By the time Edward I became king in 1272 all of south Wales was under the control of the Marcher lords. North Wales was more mountainous and much harder to conquer. It was ruled by a powerful prince called Llewellyn. He refused to do homage to the new king, so Edward sent armies to surround Llewellyn and cut off his food supplies. The Welsh prince had to surrender, but in 1282 he and his brother David rebelled again. Again Edward sent his army and this time he died in battle and David was executed.

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MAP OF WALES, SHOWING THE CASTLES OF EDWARD I

Edward decided to build a chain of castles (see map) around North Wales. They are the strongest and most impressive castles built by the English. From this time Wales was ruled by the English. Edward reorganised the country: he divided Wales into five counties, replaced Welsh law with English law and replaced the Welsh language with English. In 1301 Edward made his son the Prince of Wales, hoping that this would help to unite the Welsh and the English. From that time the heir to the English crown has been nominated Prince of Wales.

THE WELSH LANGUAGE Welsh is an ancient Celtic language spoken in Wales (Cymru). It is spoken today as their first language by about 20% of the population of Wales (mainly in the north and west). Welsh and English are the official languages of the Welsh Assembly (the regional parliament situated in the capital, Cardiff). Welsh is a beautiful language and it has many strange place names – it also has the longest place name in the U.K., which is:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

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3. KNIGHTS

In the Middle Ages a knight was a man of high social class who gave military service, usually on horseback, to his lord or the king. When William the Conqueror invaded England he not only introduced castles and the feudal system, he also introduced knights – this was a more efficient way of fighting.

IN GEOFFREY CHAUCER’S “THE CANTERBURY TALES” (1387) SOME PILGRIMS, INCLUDING A KNIGHT, TRAVEL TO CANTERBURY AND THEY TELL STORIES TO PASS THE TIME.

Making a Knight When he was about seven years old a boy of noble family was often sent to another lord’s house to learn to become a knight. He began as a page and learnt how to behave and how to ride. At the age of fourteen he became a squire - an apprentice to a knight – he looked after the knight’s armour and learnt how to use weapons. If he was successful he was usually knighted when he was about twenty-one years old. Armour At first, knights only wore chain mail as protection in battle. During the 12th century knights started to wear more mail and then in the 14th century they added steel plates. By the 15th century some knights wore full suits of armour. A suit weighed about 20-25 kgs, but the weight was spread over the body – so a healthy man could run, fight or ride his horse without help. One problem was that the knight quickly became very hot.

CHAIN MAIL

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People often think that armour was very stiff and made the knight very clumsy. This is not true. A man wearing armour could do almost anything that a man without armour could do. The secret was the plates which could move. Also, the smooth surfaces of the armour were designed to reduce the impact of weapons. Weapons The sword was the most important weapon of a knight. Until the late 13th century the double-edged sword was the most popular, but when plate armour became more common pointed swords were used because they could enter between the plates more easily. Before he used his sword in battle, a knight often used his lance. Riding on his horse, the knight charged at his opponent with his lance in a lowered position. Other weapons included the mace and the short axe

3. CHIVALRY Knights were soldiers, but traditionally they behaved in a civil and courteous way to their enemies. By the 12th century this behaviour was established as a knight’s code of conduct with special emphasis on courtly love and the treatment of noble ladies. Poems of courtly love sung by troubadours in southern France were based on the knights’ codes, and romance stories

(especially about heroes like Roldan and King Arthur), which became popular in the 13th century, showed how a knight should behave. The Orders of Chivalry still exist in Britain today and the Queen of England them to honour people who have done something good for society. The oldest and most important of the Orders of Chivalry is the Order of the Garter. Its members include the British and other royal families and a maximum of twenty-four other people. It was probably started in 1348 by King Edward III when, by tradition, a woman in the presence of the king dropped her garter (a band worn on the leg to stop a woman’s stocking from falling down). The king saved her from embarrassment by picking up the garter and putting it on his own leg, saying “Honi soit qui mal y pense”, which in Old French means “Evil to him who thinks it evil”. This phrase became the motto of the Order of Knights.

16TH CENTURY GERMAN SUIT OF

ARMOUR

A POINTED SWORD

A PAGE HELPS A KNIGHT PUT ON HIS GAUNTLET

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QUEEN ELIZABETH II IS THE CURRENT HEAD OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER

The Decline of Chivalry By the 17th century war was becoming more and more professional and governments preferred to use full-time soldiers and mercenaries. The medieval knight was becoming a memory – the title of knight became an honour, given to people whom the monarch wanted to distinguish. By the time Miguel de Cervantes wrote the international best seller “Don Quixote” (1605-1615) the ideals of chivalry were a distant memory and the knight had disappeared from the field of battle.

RESEARCH Write notes about the Order of the Garter. Mention the following pieces of information:

When and who founded it

How many members it has and what kind of people they are

Its patron saint and its headquarters

Describe its insignia and draw it

Who appoints the knights and on which day

Can women be members of the Order? http://www.royal.gov.uk/monarchUK/honours/Orderofthegarter/orderofthegarter.aspx