Western Civilization

considerably, castles did possess two common features:

they were permanent residences for the noble family,

its retainers, and servants, and they were defensible

fortifications. For defensive purposes, castles were sur-

rounded by open areas and large stone walls. At the

heart of the castle was the keep, a large, multistoried

building that housed kitchens, stables, and storerooms;

a great hall for visitors, dining, and administrative

business; and numerous rooms for sleeping and living.

The growing wealth of the High Middle Ages made it

possible for the European nobility to build more com-

plex castles with thicker walls and more elaborately

decorated interiors. With their sturdier construction,

castles were easier to defend and harder to seize

by force.

THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR At the age of seven or eight,

the sons of the nobility were sent either to a clerical

school to pursue a religious career or to another noble-

man’s castle, where they prepared for the life of a

noble. Those learning to be nobles chiefly learned mili-

tary lessons in how to joust, hunt, ride, and handle

weapons properly. After his apprenticeship in knight-

hood, at about the age of twenty-one, a young man for-

mally entered the adult world in a ceremony of

“knighting” during which a sponsor girded a sword on

the young candidate and struck him on the cheek or

neck with an open hand (or later touched him three

times on the shoulder with the blade of a sword), a cer-

emony that may have signified the passing of the spon-

sor’s military valor to the new knight.

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, under the

influence of the church, an ideal of civilized behavior

calledchivalrygradually evolved among the nobility

that represented a code of ethics for knights. In addi-

tion to defending the church and the defenseless,

knights were expected to treat captives as honored

guests instead of putting them in dungeons. Chivalry

also implied that knights should fight only for glory,

but this account of a group of English knights by a me-

dieval writer reveals another motive for battle: “The

whole city was plundered to the last farthing, and then

they proceeded to rob all the churches throughout the

city,... and seizing gold and silver, cloth of all colors,

gold rings, goblets, and precious stones... they all

returned to their own lords rich men.”^2 Apparently,

not all chivalric ideals were taken seriously.

After his formal initiation into the world of war-

riors, a young man returned home to find himself once

again subject to his parents’ authority. Young men were

discouraged from marrying until their fathers died, at

which time they could marry and become lords of the

castle. Trained to be warriors but with no adult respon-

sibilities, young knights had little to do but fight. As

the church stepped up efforts to curb socially destruc-

tive fighting in the twelfth century, tournaments began

to be organized. Initially, a tournament consisted of a

melee, in which warriors on horseback fought with

blunted weapons in free-for-all combat. By late in the

century, the melee was preceded by a joust, or individ-

ual combat between two knights. Gradually, jousts

became the main part of the tournament. Knights saw

tournaments as an excellent way to train for war. As

one knight explained, “A knight cannot distinguish

himself in [war] if he has not trained for it in tourneys.

He must have seen his blood flow, heard his teeth crack

under fist blows, felt his opponent’s weight bear down

upon him as he lay on the ground and, after being

twenty times unhorsed, have risen twenty times to

fight.”^3

ARISTOCRATIC WOMEN Although women could legally

hold property, most women remained under the con-

trol of men—their fathers until they married (usually

at the age of fifteen or sixteen) and their husbands af-

ter they married. Nevertheless, aristocratic women had

numerous opportunities for playing important roles.

Because the lord was often away at war, on a crusade

(see Chapter 10), or at court, the lady of the castle had

to manage the estate, a considerable responsibility in

view of the fact that households, even of lesser aristo-

crats, could include large numbers of officials and serv-

ants. The lady of the castle was also often responsible

for overseeing the food supply and maintaining

all other supplies for the smooth operation of the

household.

Although women were expected to be subservient to

their husbands (see the box on p. 205), there were

many strong women who advised and sometimes even

dominated their husbands. Perhaps the most famous

was Eleanor of Aquitaine (ca. 1122–1204), heiress to

the duchy of Aquitaine in southwestern France. Mar-

ried to King Louis VII of France (1137–1180), Eleanor

accompanied her husband on a crusade, but her alleged

affair with her uncle during the crusade led Louis to

have their marriage annulled. Eleanor then married

Henry, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou, who

became King Henry II of England (1154–1189). She

took an active role in politics, even assisting her sons

in rebelling against Henry in 1173 and 1174.

Blanche of Castile (1188–1252) was another power-

ful medieval queen. She became regent while her son

Land and People in the High Middle Ages 203

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

`ˆÌi`Ê܈̅Ê̅iÊ`i“œÊÛiÀȜ˜ÊœvÊ

˜vˆÝÊ*ÀœÊ*Ê

`ˆÌœÀÊ

/œÊÀi“œÛiÊ̅ˆÃʘœÌˆVi]ÊۈÈÌ\Ê