DK - WOW! The Visual Encyclopedia of Everything

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FARMHOUSEThis painting shows life on a farm in winter. Farmhouses were usually simple buildings with just one or two rooms where everyone would eat, sleep, and live together. The windows were small and did not have glass, which was very expensive.

The church was the centre of village lifeDoves and pigeons were kept for meat in a “dovecote” tower

Beehives provided honey to sweeten food and make medicinesThe farmer

had to give one tenth, or tithe, of all he produced to the local priest

BOOK OF HOURSThese paintings are taken from a prayer book called a “Book of Hours”. It was made for the French Duke of Berry around 1410 and details prayers to say at different times of the day and year. In the Middle Ages books were rare and precious objects, handwritten and illustrated by monks, and most were religious texts.

CASTLE BUILDINGIn September, the grapes were harvested, as seen here in

the grounds of the castle of Saumur. Many magnificent castles

and cathedrals were constructed during the Middle Ages, using only simple tools and the great skill of the masons who cut

and carved the stone.

The castle was designed both to show off the lord’s power and wealth and to repel enemy armies

The low wall at the tournament ground separated the knights as they charged each other on horseback armed with lances

Peasant life was harsh and many children did not live beyond the age of 10

Drawbridge

Haystack

MEDIEVAL LIFEMedieval means “middle age”, and is the name given to the period

of European history between the fall of the Roman empire, in the

5th century, and the beginning of modern history around 1500. During the Middle Ages, 90 per cent of the population lived in the countryside as peasants – poor labourers who worked for wealthy nobles.

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