Ap European History Summer Assignment

To be a knight, his fitness level had to be exceptional enough to last through a long, intense battle. Knights had to face a variety of challenges and were expected to handle them as any knight would. For example, some battles would last long periods of times, so these knights were expected to handle different weather changes, tiredness, and hungriness. The most important qualification that a knight had to have was modeling bravery due to the extreme battles that would be fought. Through these long battles, knights had to stay positive and not give up for what they are fighting for.

"Plague”. “Best known as bubonic plague for the "buboes" (lumps) that formed on the victims'

The disastrous plague called the Black Death had monumental, long lasting effects that would ultimately change the fate of the entire continent of Europe. The mid-1300s in Europe were part of the Dark Ages. Human populations were near over-crowding, and the land was stretched to produce food. Mother Nature created a drastic solution. The world lifted a bleak shadow of death and chaos over the people of Europe in the form of plague. It originated from fleas, but rats carried the fleas with this plague across seaward trading routes from Asia. Humans were oblivious to the deadly fleas disguised in the familiar sight of the rats aboard their trading ships. The plague was an airborne disease, and it was transmittable to humans. Once one was infected, no escape option was available. The plague was characterized by black cysts on the skin, which influenced humans to later dub the plague “The Black Death”. Europe was previously suffering during the Dark Ages, but what were the Black Death’s effects on Europe? The staggering effects of the Black Death were outlined clearly in the fragility of religion, the floundering population and education, and oddly enough, a recovered and thriving economy.

Living in the medieval time period was not as glamorous as it is often portrayed; peasants and serfs led hard lives, however, kings, lords, and knights lived lavishly and at the expense of those under them. In this paper you will read about all of these lifestyles, as well as the castles in which these lords and kings lived in. Mainly castle designs, fortifications, and siege tactics will be revealed to you; yet there are several sections, dealing with the lifestyles of the above mentioned, leading up to that.

The bubonic plague was a devastating disease that rapidly swept across Europe. Also known as the Black Death, the plague spread from port to port and started to wipe out entire civilizations. All of Europe was eventually contaminated, with over two-thirds of the population dieing to the infectious disease. Believed to have started in 1346 when the Mongol armies overtook the Genoese trading outpost of Caffa on the Black Sea, over half the soldiers on the boat returned dead. The quickness of the infection and then death, brought a fear to these people they have never witnessed before. The sudden death caused by the disease created a paranoria among the people that Armageden had arrived.

The black death was a great pestilence that killed over 50 million people in the 1300’s. This paper will go through the origin of the black death, the symptoms of the different types of plague, and the treatments, old and new, that people have tried.

Their match did not take that long. Sir William of Wykeham had Sir Simon de Montfort finished in a mere matter of minutes. The next Knights to fight were Edmund Cartwright and Letholdus both were very great noble fellows. They had a great showdown, it was one swing after the other, Letholdus ended up winning in the end, because he had more skills. The next fight was between Gorvenal of Wintershed and Charles the Bald. Now this was an interesting match because as they began to fight the sky got emerald green, and a mysterious figure covered in shiny gold armor, He interrupts the match and invites himself into the battle. People were asking around who is this knight and where is he from. The Lord Montagu is shock and he motions for his royal advisor and asks what he should do about this mysterious gold knight. Rownan the squire and him have a long talk and come to consensus, that the gold Knight will be allowed to fight. The gold knight had more strength than any of the knights. He defeated all the knights and won the

The disastrous plague called the Black Death had monumental, long lasting effects that would ultimately change the fate of the entire continent of Europe. The mid-1300s in Europe were part of the Dark Ages. Human populations were near over-crowding, and the land was stretched to produce food. Mother Nature created a drastic solution. The world lifted a bleak shadow of death and chaos over the people of Europe in the form of plague. It originated from fleas, but rats carried the fleas with this plague across seaward trading routes from Asia. Humans were oblivious to the deadly fleas disguised in the familiar sight of the rats aboard their trading ships. The plague was an airborne disease, and it was transmittable to humans. Once one was infected, no escape option was available. The plague was characterized by black cysts on the skin, which influenced humans to later dub the plague “The Black Death”. Europe was previously suffering during the Dark Ages, but what were the Black Death’s effects on Europe? The staggering effects of the Black Death were outlined clearly in the fragility of religion, the floundering population and education, and oddly enough, a recovered and thriving economy.

In conclusion, Jousting went from a bloody free for all to a gentleman’s sport. Honor and respect were mutual between the Knights. Jousts were a time to show your courage, skill and strength. Jousting is still done today; you could say it’s one of the oldest sports

Records of the plague during this time period often recount tales of men falling ill and dying within a three or four day period (F. Cantor, 13). This short, rapid progression of the disease does not lend itself to the multiphasic course of the bubonic plague. Though these accounts are rivaled by tales describing a disease decently matching the bubonic plague, there are enough of these countering records to question the true identity of the Black Death.

Medieval sports of the middle ages were a source of public entertainment designed to increase the overall fitness and military experiences of men and woman. These games, called béhourds, were fought by rival knights and soldiers either on horses or the ground. This was in accordance with the feudal practice that required Lords to bring forth soldiers to protect the king in exchange for ownership of land. Knights that participated in these sports used weapons such as swords, lances, daggers, and battle axes, and thus men were often killed or brutally wounded (“Medieval Sports”). These sporting contests also made it possible for men to move up in the ranks of the Pyramid of Power. Those who performed heroically in battle or were triumphant in competition would become wealthy and considered a part of the nobility, whereas, the peasant class received as little as a purse for their excellence. Similar to the fame experienced by modern-day professional football players, medieval jousters were subject to the same treatment. However, different games were enjoyed by either class of men, therefore stardom was concentrated more toward the nobility. Despite this, many of the sports enjoyed during this time are still around today, some of which have been included in the world famous Olympic Games.

“A Tournament was a series of mounted and armored combats, fought as contests, in which a number of knights competed and the one that prevailed through the final round or who finished with the best record was declared the winner and awarded a prize, or purse of money” (Alchin, "Medieval Tournaments", 2014). Tournaments can be fought individually or in teams. There are two main types of tournaments: Jousts (individual) and melees (teams) (Alchin, "Medieval Tournaments", 2014). Tournaments have been changing throughout the Middle Ages as new weapons are being invented and when the “Statue of Arms” was put in affect making all weapons dull (Alchin, "Medieval Tournaments", 2014). Although Knights competed in the tournaments, the Church wasn’t very happy because they believed “that it distracted the knights from the crusades” (Hampden, 2003). Although frowned upon, tournaments were vital to help keep knights in shape to fight in the middle

Archery was a big sport in this time. Archery came with an obvious military overtone, and it is later called the national sport of medieval Europe. The weapon that most people chose to use was a longbow, the weapon used in wars in Europe at this time, because it was easier and was quicker to reload and shoot. There was also an extreme emphasis on hunting. Hunting requires a large amount of physical activity for not only the hunters, but also the animals that they hunt with. The hunters believed this sport to be a way to train for war. If there was no immediate war, hunting served as a way for the military elite to show off. Hunting in a royal forest was reserved for only the king and those people that he hand chose and deemed eligible to participate. The medieval people also participated in winter games. Skating on frozen lakes was not uncommon for them. The skaters used poles to help keep them going across these icy

There were two ways in which a boy could become a knight, he had to be the son of a noble or a son of a good family. Boys who were apprenticed to knights trained for a long time before they actually became a knight. At the age of seven

It involved activities such as mock battles and jousting competitions. Writing about the ‘Tournament at Saint-Inglevert’ Froissart claimed great occasion , where both French and English enjoyed themselves. He claimed that both sides stated that there were no injuries. Very typically on this occasion, it seems that Froissart's account was romanticised. The tournament was, according to Malcolm Vale baffling because of the how artificial it was. However, contemporaries such as Henry VII believed that the tournament gave men the chance to learn the ‘exercise of the deeds of arms’. The contemporary view of tournaments, in general, is one of praise. They were seen as entertainment and quite possibly useful too. Many contemporaries do seem to concur that the tournament was a useful exercise from a combat point of view and there must be some truth to this. The tournament certainly would not have prepared a knight for a full-scale battle, but it would have thought them essential skills such as how to joust and wield a sword. Either way, the tournament as described by Froissart was a part of the chivalric society, although we may question his claim that nobody was injured during the tournament he wrote about. It is fact that tournaments were great social occasions that were set up as methods of