Medivl Period

The Medieval Period

In the year of 1066 the Battle of Hastings was fought by the king of England, and by the Duke of Normandy. The Saxon king of England was called Harold, and the Duke of Normandy was called William. England was invaded by William also known as the "Conqueror" because he had been promised the English throne; he eventually took over the whole country with the help of experienced soldiers.

The Normans or "Northman" they were descendants from the Vikings that took over and stayed in northwestern France, which later became known as Normandy. They spent over a hundred years in France and adapted to the French customs, they also had their own language called the Norman French. They had pretty good soldiers, lawyers, borrowers, and adapters, but they were poorly in having original ideas.

The best idea during the middle ages was the idea of commonwealth of Christendom. It was a spiritual and cultural empire that untied men from different nationalities; they spoke different languages, and enjoyed the different customs everyone had.

The feudal system was based on landholding; nobody owned their own land, except an overlord that in return owed allegiance to a king or to a knight. Everybody knew their place in society.

The way people lived in the medieval time was not modern, and not comfortable. They didn't have that much clothes to wear for everyday use, traveling was difficult and dangerous, they really didn't have much food and when they did have food it had to be eaten quickly. Medieval time was very colorful because there were no factories that let out smoke, no railroads, and no big cities.

The book "the Lion-Hearted" was sad history about the crusades. Each crusades believed they could have rescued Jerusalem from the Turks, but most of them ended stealing, or were in a situation that involved power politics which meant that the nation would threatened to use force to get what they wanted.

Chivalry in medieval times was about a relationship with a person of the opposite sex. It was not only about a relationship but with the help of a church a knight was to be made devoted and loving off the battlefield to the person he was promised to.

Medieval romances were stories that included chivalry and were told to please ladies. Other tales were told about giants, dragons, wizards, and sorceresses. People in the medieval ages were very gullible towards the aristocrats and the clergy.

"The medieval concept of romantic love came from France." (29) The first English romance verse was about a knight going off on a mission to save his loved one. These tales came from three sources Britain, France, and Rome.

It took two hundred and fifty years for Normans and Saxons to become one English nation. There were many wars in France; most of them were won by England. These wars were known as the"