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Medieval Nobility& The Castle
The Nobility
• Small social class divided into two groups.
• High Nobility: the direct vassals of the king.
Dukes, Counts, Marquises, and Baron.
• Lower Nobility: knights and people who owned
and kept horses and weapons.
A Nobleman’s Education
• Noblemen started their education as children.
• 6 years: go to live in the castle of another lord or
the king to serve as pages & learn the rules of
courtly life.
• 14 years: become a squire and accompany a
knight to tournaments and battles carrying the
knight’s shield and taking care of his weapons and
horse.
A Nobleman’s Education
• 21 years: The noble is knighted.
• The knights had to serve the king or lord in their
troops (army).
• The spent their time training for war, going to
tournaments, hunting, and riding.
• Code of Chivalry: be devout, loyal, courteous, and
generous. Courtly manners and love.
A Noblewoman’s Education
• Women received a practical education.
• 7 years: sent to live with another noble family.
• Learned manners and etiquette, learned how to
dance and ride, learned archery.
• Acted as servants to the older ladies.
A Noblewoman’s Education
• Women married a man chosen by her family (as
young as 12).
• They were expected to bring a dowry (money,
goods, and property) to the marriage.
• A noblewoman was her husband’s property.
• Women were expected to provide children as their
main duty, as well as run the household, pray, and
do needlework.
Titles & Positions of the Peerage
• Peerage: hereditary titles linked to lands, powers,
and responsibilities.
• Viceroy & Vicereine: the governor of a country or
province, representing the king.
• Duke & Duchess: the highest hereditary rank,
highest ranking below the king.
Titles & Positions of the Peerage
• Marquess/Marquis & Marchioness/Marquise:
responsible for guarding border areas, the
“marches”.
• Count/Earl & Countess: the highest title that a
noble of non-royal blood could have.
• Viscount & Viscountess: a lieutenant or deputy of a
Count/Earl, or the title of the eldest son of an Earl or
Marquess/Marquis.
Titles & Positions of the Peerage
• Baron & Baronness: the Tenants-in-Chief class of
nobility. A member of the king’s council.
• Knight & Dame/Lord & Lady: warriors who
fought on horseback. They pledged loyalty to their
king or lord in exchange for land.
• Gentry: wellborn and well breed people. Not a
member of the nobility, but allowed a Coat of Arms
and part of the upper ruling class.
Castle were…
• Defensive fortresses where the nobles lived.
• Where the rest of the people could stay when
attacked.
• Usually built in he center of the fief and on high
ground.
Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain
Castles
• Were surrounded by thick walls, high towers, and a
moat.
• Were entered via the drawbridge, which was
protected by two towers with guard posts.
• Had battlements, defensive towers, walkways, a
portcullis, a drawbridge, an arrowslit, a
machiocolation, and a moat for protection.
Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain
Castles
• Inside the walls was the keep.
• A keep is a large tower where the lord and his family
lived.
• The keep had floors for the kitchen, chapel,
bedrooms, and great hall.
Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain
Castles
• Life was not easy – even for the nobility!
• The rooms were uncomfortable, dark, and cold.
• There was hardly any furniture and not many
windows.
Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain
Castles – The Great Hall
• The great hall was the most important part of the
keep.
• It had a large chimney.
• It was decorated with tapestries and animal skins.
• The lord celebrated banquets in the great hall.
• The vassals came to pay their taxes in the great hall.
• The lord made legal decisions in the great hall.
Castles in Spain
Castles in Spain