Sword pics

Here are some pictures of swords and one sword used for training! The training one is wooden, it was because when learning you weren't trusted to use a real sword with a blade.

How to Make Rose Water For the Medieval Pie!!!!!!!!!!!

"Ingredients:
2-3 quarts fresh roses or rose petals
Water
Ice cubes or crushed ice

1. In the center of a large pot (the speckled blue canning pots are ideal) with an inverted lid (a rounded lid), place a fireplace brick. On top of the brick place the bowl. Put the roses in the pot; add enough flowers to reach the top of the brick. Pour in just enough water to cover the roses. The water should be just above the top of the brick.

2. Place the lid upside down on the pot. Turn on the stove and bring the water to a rolling boil, then lower heat to a slow steady simmer. As soon as the water begins to boil, toss two or three trays of ice cubes (or a bag of ice) on top of the lid.

3. You’ve now created a home still! As the water boils the steam rises, hits the top of the cold lid, and condenses. As it condenses it flows to the center of the lid and drops into the bowl. Every 20 minutes, quickly lift the lid and take out a tablespoon or two of the rose water. It’s time to stop when you have between a pint and a quart of water that smells and tastes strongly like roses."



From http://www.care2.com/

The Black Death and other Misfortunes II

What other affects did the Black Death have on people? Well, because people, including laborers, were dieing of plague, there was a work shortage. And landowners didn't have enough people to have their estaites run properly. Many feilds were turned into grazing feilds because they required much less work to run. The wages also rose 80% in England. As you can see, the ecomomy changed quite dramatically when the Black Plague struck. As did many things, but that's for another day.


Picture found here.
Facts found here.

The Answer to Cathedral Questions

I looked through my comments and found questins, one was did the people of Chutreaux like their old cathedral? Yes they did, it just caught on fire. And yes Collin they painted,but only in the inside of the cathedrals. Another question is that did they cut down the whole Chantilly forest, no they didnt they used about more than 1/4 of it. Here are some facts : did you know that the designer was named Willam, and did you know that the old cathedral was struck by lighting.And the bisop that Willam presented all of his ideas to diied in 1281.



Now, I have a question for you. Why did the people build another cathedral?



I got this information from this online book.

More Facts on Castles!

Here are some more facts on castles. When gunpowder was invented castles and castles wall became vulnerable. Cannons could not knock down stone walls. The only possiable way to break down a castle wall is to undermine it. Undermine is digging a hole under it. 1 But sometimes that does not work. As we know from the movie Castles that the head solider had his man dig a hole and make the castle wall fall down but it didn't work. The largest castle in the world is the Malbork Castle in Poland. It was founded in 1274 by the Teutonic Knights. They used it as there headquarters. 2

1 http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm

2 http://www.touropia.com/largest-castles-in-the-world/

Renissant's Pie Recipe (revised for modern times)

"Apple and Pear Renaissance Pie Recipe

Tourte aux Pommes et aux Poires… This classic renaissance dessert is most likely what led to our contemporary version of an apple pie! A warm, sumptuous after dinner treat!

Preparation Time: 25 minutes (+ 10 minutes if making your own crust)
Cooking Time: about 40 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Apples
1/2 lb. Pears
2 oz. Butter
4 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp. Rose Water (if you can't find rose water, use white wine)
Additional Butter for baking dish

2 Pie Crusts (see recipe below or use a good pre-made crust)

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 375°F
1. Put crust in refrigerator. Peel apples and Pears and cut into medium-thick slices.
2. Sauté fruit in the butter over a medium flame until tender. Stir in 2 tbsp. sugar. Then, take off heat and let cool off completely.
3. Butter baking dish. Take crusts out of refrigerator and roll out one crust so that it is about 2 inches larger than the pie dish. Fit crust into dish, so that edges are evenly overhanging. Fill with cooled apples and pears. Roll out second crust and cover the fruit. Fold over the edges and pinch to form a "crown". Put in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
4. Mix rose water and 2 tbsp. sugar. Take pie out of oven and cover top with rose water mixture. Put back in oven for a few minutes, until the top shimmers!
Voilà!

Variations:

If you would like, you can sprinkle the bottom of the pie with a couple of tablespoons of ground almond powder. A favorite ingredient of renaissance desserts and often used in pies and tartes.

You can also make this same recipe by substituting the pears with peaches.

Last but not least, you can also soak 1/4 cup raisins in rose water for 30 minutes and then add the fruits right after stirring in the sugar. Serving Ideas:

Ice cream was invented during the renaissance by Italian chefs… so feel free to serve alongside this luscious pie!


Crust Recipe for Apple Pear Pie

Ingredients for Crust:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: 30 minutes

2 2/3 cup Flour
4 Eggs
8 oz. Butter (chilled!)
2 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp. Ground Almond Powder (optional) Pinch of Salt

How to Make Crust:

1. Mix salt, sugar, and flour.
2. Cut chilled butter into small pieces and mix into flour with finger tips. Stop working batter once it looks like "sand".
3. Make a well and pour in eggs. Incorporate into flour using your fingers and a spatula.
4. Once homogenous, form a ball, place on a floured surface and knead for 10 seconds. Divide in half, form two separate balls. Wrap each one in plastic, or put in separate plastic bags. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.
Voilà!"

From http://www.famousfrenchdesserts.com/ and http://kitchenjourneys.com/

More on Harald

Harald the Fairhair is a legend, but let's learn more about him.

To begin, he had over 20 children! 23, at least. Having so many children caused a problem. All of his children feuded over the throne, but each got a land to rule over. This still did not stop all fighting. Harald handed supreme power over to Eirik Bloodaxe, his favorite son, the son of one his wives Ragnhild Eiriksdotter. Eirik ruled alongside Fairhair when he was 80 for 3 years. Harald was buried in the traditianal mound when he died.

Answers to your sword questions!!!!!!!!!!

The sword was a medieval weapon used for torture, killing, and of course it was a weapon of choice for battle! It was quick and easy, or it could be a slow painful experience! Also to answer your questions I researched them and found out most of the answers. I also, of course, found a picture of one of the more detailed and painful swords! For the first question my research was not exactly helping, so the question about a spikes on all sides of a sword the guessed answer was NO! Unless it was a decoration it was unlikely to have one, sorry! Also, the answer for the second question is very, very, very powerful! Almost of the sources I found said that some swords could be so powerful that with one blow it could slice straight through your sheild, and possibly kill you without a second blow! That's a lot of power. However, for the last question I cannot answer it! It is a very simple process with only a few steps, but it would take forever to explain! There weren't many steps as i said but it was tedious work it was a long, stretched out process! So those are the answer to your comments and questions, if you have anymore just comment with them on this post the same way as before!

The Black Death and other Misfortunes I: On Comments

The death toll the Black Death left was unfathomable. England's population was cut down by at least 1/4. But 2/3 of France's people died. But that's not all! Later, smaller outbreaks of the plauge kept the populations form recovering. And the famous Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio worte about his expiriences: "This disaster struck such fear into the hearts of men and women...Brother abondoned brother. Uncle abondoned nephew. Sister left brother. And very often wife abondoned husband...even worse, almost unbelieveable- fathers and mother neglected to tend and care for their children.". This was how unfortunate the circumstances got.

All of this information was found right here.

I found three facts on houses in the middle ages.

1. The homes of the rich were more elaborate than the peasants homes.

2.Only the wealthy could afford panes of glass.

3.The medieval kitchen consisted of a stone hearth in the center of the room.

I got this infermation from this website.

Rabbit!

In medieval times they would hunt rabbits not raise them.

Rabbit recipe!!!!!!

Hare, Rabbit, Veal or Chicken Stew with Herbs & Barley
Serves 6

In 7th century England, herbs were one of the few flavourings available
to cooks and were used heavily...

50g (2oz) butter
1 -1.5kg (2-3 lb) (depending on the amount of bone) of hare or rabbit
joints, stewing veal or chicken joints
450g (1lb) washed and trimmed leeks, thickly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
175 g (6 oz) pot barley
900 mL (30 fl oz, 3 3/4 cups) water
3 generous tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
2 bay leaves, salt, pepper
15 fresh, roughly chopped sage leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried sage

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and fry the meat with the leeks and
garlic till the vegetables are slightly softened and the meat lightly
browned. Add the barley, water, vinegar, bay leaves and seasoning. bring
the pot to the boil, cover it and simmer gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or
till the meat is really tender and ready to fall from the bone. Add the
sage and continue to cook for several minutes. Adjust the seasoning to
taste and serve in bowls-- the barley will serve as a vegetable.

from: http://www.wikipidia.com , http://www.worldpress.com/ and www.cs.cmu.edu/

womens roles

To answer your question Alcide,women were expected to produce male heirs because ,unfortunetly,back then men had all the power.Wives were their husbands property.If women didn't have any sons their property would go to someone else.I got this information from Mrs.Z.

Answer to: What are some other words that we dont use?

Question: What are some other words that we dont use?


Answer:

Hospice
Coif
Jerkin
Portcullis
Farthing " But there are a lot more words then this."

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/door/vocabulary.htm

Answer to jesse's question.

Jesse's question was how much would they sell their crops for?

I don't know how much it would cost back then but I do know that they had guilds. Guilds are bands of merchants and artisans who have a trade off. Every one's prices were the same. Only the people in the guild were aloud to trade.

i found it

This is the most common weapon. This is a mace.

This is the most deadly weapon. It is a three-barreled pole gun

Vikings: Harald the Fairhair, One of the Many

(An illustration dipicting Harald the Fairhair form the 14th century (Right) )

I received no questions about vikings, so I decided to write more about one viking in particular.


Harald the Fairhair was one of many viking kings. His reign lasted from 872 BC to 930 BC. Even though he had sons like Hååken [Ho-ken], his heir was his favorite son, Eirik Bloodaxe. Harald had several wives, one of which was Danish, and one that was named Svanhild, the name of my grandmother. In fact, he had over 7 wives! Half of which I am sure he took by force. He was born in 850 BC in Eastern Norway, and died in 943 BC in Rogaland, Norway, having had lived 82-83 years.

Extra- The ends of old Norse names, and some modern, end in son, sen or dotter. Son or sen always indicates that they are the son of the man with their name in their last name. For example, Thor Gjordsen would mean that Thor is the son of Gjord [Gyord]. Dotter at the name indicates the same thing, only it is for females. Thor's sister, Anetuuve [Ah- Nuh- Too- Vuh], would be Anetuuve Gjorddotter. This is not often seen today, but some people still have one of these names.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flateyjarbok_Haraldr_Halfdan.jpg

Literature Answers

" Do you know why the authors in stories have the knights not fighting?"-Shae. They don't have them fighting because the authors want the knights to be heroic not wicked people.

"Why did they not use all of the detailed information like how they fighted?"-Ray. They did not tell how they fought because the authors didn't want to be to grusome because the knights fought not on the likable side.

"Why were the people in stories different from the real people in medieval?"-Cheyene. People were not as rich as perceived in the stories. A lot of them were poor in real Medieval Europe.

The information for Cheyene's question came from here.

Answer to Al's question

QUESTION: Why would they say that if you die in a tournament it was an act of suicide?


ANSWER: Churches thought that it was sinful to fight, and that if anyone died in a mock battle it was simply considered suicide, and that person was not honored.

I found it here: http://go.grolier.com/

I found this picture here: http://www.cartoonstock.com/vintage/directory/m/monks.asp

Questions About Clothing Answered...

After reading my post about the clothing in the medieval times some people asked me a question. One of the questions from Jessie was: Is the cloth for the clothing expensive? So, to Jessie the answer is: I think the silk and all the more high quality they are the more expensive, but for wool and the less quality they are probably the less expensive they are. The second question was from Noah was: What did children wear? The answer is: Girls wore long dresses from their necks to their ankles. Boys on the other hand(i don't think they wore dresses) wore leather boots, big heavy jackets and tights they also wore rags if they were poor. So, there you have it!

I found the information here

I found the picture here

Your armor questions answered...

After I posted my first blog, Mike and Ali both asked questions about the fancy armor for knights, plate armor. Well, here it is,... the knights from medival times had usually cain mail armor. They usually didn't have platting because it was a lot of money. Also, if there was not a blacksmith around, which there usually was, then none of the armor could be made in the first place. Mike, I couldn't find out how much money plate armor coast, but the importance of it was HUGE. Many people had chainmail armor because first of all, it was easier to make and also it was cheaper than plate armor. The best kind of armor avalible was plate armor though. A squire was able to fully dress his asigned knight in plate armor in minutes. This was a hardwoking squire though. So if a squire like that was able to dress his night in that amount of time, he would get appointted night at a higher level of servence.

(Information found knight's+armor&queryParser=Grolier_en">here. This phot0 was found on, here.

Torture in the Middle Ages

Alcide asked " why did they pull their arms out of their sockets and burn the city?"


Well they pulled their arms and legs out of their sockets to make the people answer their questions and they burned the city because they were mad at the Jews who were in Spain and they wanted to kill them.

Shae asked " why did Torquemada assign inquisitors that later burned the City of Seville?"

Well the inquisitors were instructed by Torquemada and he wanted to persecute the Jews in Spain who had not converted to Christianity so he had his inquisitors burn the city of Seville.

Ryan asked " what would be such a big law to break so the punishment of death?"

Being burned alive would be the punishment of death and Torquemada only burned the Jews in Spain because he thought that they should convert to Christianity and they didn't.

Man being tortured in the Spanish Inquisition

I found this information here: http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0389280-00&docKey=Li4vLi4vc2VhcmNoL2NvbnRlbnQvZWE0L3RleHQvMDQxLzAzODkyODAtMDAuaHRtbEBnbzI*&queryText=tomas+de+torquemada&queryParser=Grolier_en/

Three more interesting facts: 1. Even though Torquemada was of Jewish descent he still persecuted many Jews in Spain. 2. King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I expelled more than 160,000 Jews from Spain under Torquemada's influence. 3. Torquemada persecuted any Jews that had not converted to Christianity.

I found these facts at the link above

Answers for Hastle at the Castle!

Dear Chad, Your question about if the castle was on a hill would it be easier for enimies to spot, well that is right and wrong. It is wrong beacuse good places to build castles are high, rockey ground also at isolated peninsulas and lake islands, but also you are correct enimies would see it if it was up high. Lastly Chad, castles have very tall walls so it is hard to attack. 1

Dear Michael, Your question why where they called motte and bailey castles, beacuse builders would find a hill the hill was called a motte. The village was called bailey. That is where they get motte and bailey castles. 2
This is a diagram of a motte and bailey castle. As you can see the castle is on the very top of the hill which is called the motte and the village is on land call bailey.
1 http://www.medieval-castles.net/castle_defenses/index.htm
2 http://usacastle.com/castle_education/motte-bailey-castle.htm
The picture I got here

What about Heraldry- Answers to Comments

http://graphicriver.net/item/heraldic-shield/51414

The colors that I talked about in my last post were to give you an example of what they used to call certain colors in the Medieval Ages. Those were some of the colors they would put on their shields to decorate it and/or they use symbols. Also, I think that they spoke a different language other than English because I don't know anyone who says purpure for purple.

Herbs!!!!!!!!

Anise

I have 5 more herbs for you!

1."Mugwort- to cure feet problems." 2. "Nutmeg- to aid digestion."
3. "Chamomile- to combat headaches."
4. "Anise- to combat flatulence."
5. "Betony- to allevate migranes."

from http://www.medievalrecipes.com/ http://www.hottesttea.com/

nutmeg

http://fg.rootbay.staticcling.org/ www.starwest-botanicals.com www.herbalextractsplus.com

www.tajagroproducts.com

mugwort

chamomile

betony

Seige Weapons II

Trebuchet
http://civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com/?p=1383&cpage=1

For Jessie's comment, these siege weapons were actually very stable. These weapons were very cumbersome, so they were built on site by top engineers. After the warfare, they were either taken apart or left to rot. But, as I said before, they were actually very stable.

For Sabra- The average size of the battering ram was 100-120 feet long, with an iron head weighing about a ton and a half, a total weight of about 45,000 lbs. (22 1/2 tons).

For Greg- A Battering ram was about the dimensions listed above, and looked like this-http://qwickstep.com

For Fabio- Depending on the weapon and its size, these weapons were built on seige grounds or on wheels somewhere else and rolled to seige territory. But though wheels were an option, these weapons were so gigantic that it was easier to build them on site.

All information found at http://go.grolier.com in Encyclopedia Americana

Ballista

http://spqr360.com

Giant Trebuchet Simulator

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/trebuchet/

More Questions? Click here

Homes in the middle ages.

I found three facts on homes in the middle ages 1.each house has about two rooms.

2.they shared their houses with animals. And

3.Most houses are made of mud and wood.


I got this infermation from Towns and cities

By Henk Dijkstra.

Torture In the Middle Ages

I found three facts about torture. 1. A man named Torquemada assigned inquisitors that later burned the city of Seville. 2. He would pull prisoners' arms out of their sockets. 3. He would burn people alive.

Goldberg, A. Enid & Itzkowitz, Norman Tomás De Torquemada Scholastic Inc. 2008

Cathedrals

Aaa cathedrals, so big. But what is it made of? Most of them are made of stone and glass, the stone making its structure and the glass as windows. One cathedral in 1252, the peple of Chutreaux's old cathedral burned down and all the towns people attempted to build a new one. They tore down several houses and started building. It took 150 laborers and they built their cathedral was made of stone, glass, and wood. they gathered all of the wood from the forest of Chantilly. And finally after a long period of time they finished. As you notice not all cathedrals
are made of the same things, such as the one in Chutreaux and in the ones in modern day.

Cathedrals the Storyof Its Construction, By David Maculay, published in 1973, published in Boston, Mass.

Seige Weapons

My 3 Facts...

1. Trebuchet- Medieval engineers worked very hard on the design of the trebuchet so they knew that it had the aim of a catapult so this sling would have the greatest effect on reducing castle walls to rubble so the invaders could directly attack the castle.

2. Ballista- or the giant crossbow, was just that- a giant crossbow. Flaming arrows were sent flying over castle walls, burning the town to the ground and sending peasants screaming. The sheer force of a ballista launch was designed to skewer several enemies at once!

3. Battering Ram- The battering ram had to be built on siege grounds, because it was far too large to move around. Its design was to pull back a giant cylinder of material and to let go, sending the cylinder flying into enemy walls.

http://www.blogger.com/www.middle-ages.org.uk/index.htm

What Women Wore in the Middle Ages

Hi Guys!,
My first fact about this cool topic is:
#1 Women sewed, cooked, cleaned, and ran the house while her husband was gone.
#2 Women were expected to produce the male heirs in the family.
#3 They were also supposed to teach their daughters all the above,basically.
I got this info from:
William Chester Jordan,The Middle Ages,Princeton,New Jersey,Grolier Publishing Co. ,1999

Medieval Language

In medieval times, most people did not read or write. Perhaps that is why it is sometimes easier to hear and understand medieval english than to read it. Still , there are many words in medieval english that we do not use today.

Durst: Dare: The nessessary boldness or courage for something.
Whence: From where: '' Whence comest thou?"
Whience: To where: "Whither thou goest I'll go."
Wit: To know: Canst thou wit what the day shall bring


Although medieval english is at the root of modern english, it does not look like what we use today

Williams,Marcia - title : Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Cambride,Massachusetts- Candlewick Press-Copyright,2007.

Knight's armor

In Medival times, Knights didn't have tanks or 50 cal. machine guns, they had chain mail and iron platted suits. But this was all fair because nobody had more or less than this in battle. But the armor wasn't cheap made, it was very expensive and well made. For example, the inside of the armor,(plated), was leather padding with homemade rivots to connect it to the metal platting. Also, at age 14, a page was apprenticed to a squire, or young king. Along with the armor, the helmets were usually made of iron to protect the warriors.

(Gravett,Christopher), Eyewitness Knight, NewYork, Year. 1993

http://www.Theplatelady.com/warriors.htm-

France vs. England

England claimed the French crown and took over most of notheren France. When England was defeating France a brave girl named Joan of arc who had the guts to stand against the English army. England got driven out of the notheren France but the girl named Joan got captured.

By. John Haywood published in 1999 by Androneda Oxford Ltd

The Hastle at the Castle!

Castles are very interesting but these three facts stood out to me. My first fact is: Its thick, high walls make it very hard to attack. Also Castle were impressive symbols of power and wealth. My last fact is: The simplest castles were called motte and bailey castles. This is a picture of a motte and bailey castle.
Hamilton, John Castles And Dungeons Edina,MN ABDO and Daughters 2006

three things you want to know about jousting and tournaments

http://militaryphotos.net

Some people might think that they always used blunt weapons or that its a honor to die in a tournament to even thinking that there was only jousting well, that person is wrong. Here is some facts about tournaments:

Fact #1: When tournaments first began they'd use real swords which caused death. Churches thought that anyone who died in a tournament was an act of suicide.

Fact #2: After so many people had died they blunted all the swords and lances.

Fact#3: Last but not least fact number three. One of the most popular types of tournament was mock battles where there would be teams, and they would use a sword and a shield to attack the other tem until they were either dead or gave up.

Hamilton,John. Knights and Heroes ABDO Publishing Company, 4940 Viking Drive, Suite 622,Edina,Minnesota 55435.

medieval weapons

weapons are what wone the war. Three popular weapons were the Francisca throwing AX, the winged spear, and the iron aged dagger. The Francisca throwing ax was popular with the Germanic warriors who fought against Rome. It was used in the similar way of the javelin, thrown before contact with enemy to creat gaps in enemy lines. The winged spear was used for hunting and for war, it can hook a sheild out of the way and the wings on it can stop weapons from sliding down the handle to cut your hand. The iron aged dagger would have belonged to a tribal chief and used for every day functions but only in extreme circumstances would he use it in battle.

Gahir, Sunita etal

Blacksmiths in the Middle Ages

There was three interesting facts about the blacksmiths in the middle ages. 1. Blacksmiths made arrmor, swords, door hinges, nails and plows. 2. In 1326 iron balls for cannons. 3. The first recorded manufacture guns was in Germany.

MacEachern, Sally. ED

Clothing of the Medival World

So, everybody knows that the people who lived in th Medival times didn't wear clothes like we do today, But what did they wear? Monks wore long robes called habits, and other men wore them at knee-length. Braies were wore under their tunics and were two seperate, loose fitting, woolen leggings, that's why we call them a "pair of pants". all you The way woman in the middle classes were fashionable was by having detachable sleves.

Grolier Education, Medival World, Danbury, Connecticut, Brown Partworks limited, 2001

Literature of the Medieval World

People in Medieval Europe were very different in many ways in the aspect of literature. Many people in the Canterbury Tales had some different such as The Nun's Priest and the Second Nun. The author of The Canterbury Tales , Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote kind of different from our style of writing now. He wrote in medieval english. People in the stories were different from the real people from the Middle Ages. Knights in Literature today are not what they were like. The real Medieval knights were fighting a lot more than in stories.


Cohen, Barbara, Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales, Singapore: Lothrop. Lee and Shepard Books, 1998.

The Black Death and other Misfortunes I

Some facts I found about medieval illnesses were too gory to publish on this posting. But some are vital in our understanding of what happened. Like the facts below:

Fleas actually sucked up the plauge through their skin.

Black boils were the first signs of the black death.

Over 30% of Europe's population died in the first wave.

All of these facts found in: (Macdonald, Fiona), How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages?. New York, Franklin Watts, 1995

Swords!

For my 3 facts I went in the weapons book! I found out that swords were usually held in the right hand. A sword called the parade sword was a 2 handed sword that was in a wave shape. Lastly for my 3rd fact I found the "sword-beaker", this sword had "arrow" shapes in the blade. The sword also had a wire-bound grip, and a ring guard.
Source #1: Sunita Gahir etal.
Source #2: ???????????????
Book Title: WEAPON

What about Heraldry?

Heraldry began in Western Europe during the 12th century. Heraldry was a system of visual symbols that developed in the Medieval ages. The five basic colors that were used in Heraldry were- azure(blue), gules(red), purpure(purple), sable(black), and vert(green).

MacEachern, Sally ed. Medieval World Volume 4 Danbury,Connecticut Grolier Education, 2001

Let's Go A-Viking!

Vikings; my own ancestors. The start of civilization in many European places. But there is much we don't know about them. To begin, Vikings navigated using not a compass, rather an instrument that is a cross between a compass and a sundial. It had a wooden disk, and a cone in the middle called a gnomon.

Also, Did you know that Erik the Red's real name was Erik Thorvaldson. This means his father is Thorvald. Thorvaldson means son of Thorvald.

Vikings carried water with them. They also carried mead. Mead is a drink made of fermented honey. This alcoholic drink is called nabidh [nuh-beed] in the Old Norwegian language.


Clark, John O.E. with Allaby, Michael and Beer, Amy-Jane. "Time lines Of Science and Technology". Danbury, CT., 2006.

Fun facts on farming!

Farming, well you would think that farming in the middle ages would be easy... think again!

#1.The population of peasants in Poland is around 80%!

#2.They grew barley, oats, apples, pears, cherries, plums, peas, lentils, cucumbers, cabbage, turnips, carrots, and more!

#3.they used sheepskin for coats, covering wooden benches, and padding on sleighs!

Blocksman, Wim ED, The Roots of Western Civilization, Rural Landscapes, Hilversum, The Netherlands, Henk Dijkstra. 1992.

By Devon Gomez

Food For Ordanary People

Sage

River trout Pike

Mint

Parsley

Rosemary

In medieval times coneys, or rabbits, were a common source of food for ordanary people, and on holidays they would fatten up a goose for their meal. These people would use herbs to liven up their meals. Common herbs were: mint, sage, rosemary, and parsly. On Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays no meat could be eaten by order of the church. Fish, such as river trout and pike, were used as a subsitute.

Medieval Life Langy, Andrew, London: Dorling Kindersley Limited: 1996