Albro Genealogy

Heraldic symbols were important during medieval times and were found in many aspects of life. The suit of armor made it difficult to distinguish friend from foe on the battlefield so it was a natural choice for knights to choose symbols as their marks of identification. Each knight had his own heraldic design marked on his shield, his tunic and even on the cloth covering his horse. This design was known as a coat of arms. Most persons did not know how to write so in order to prove the authenticity of documents it was common to use a seal with a person’s heraldic design as a signature or a way to identify a particular family. The design commemorated an event, occupation or outstanding quality in one’s life. A herald was selected to supervise the selection of colors and symbols so there would be no duplicates.

People of all classes, noblemen included, often could not read or write. Instead of signing a document they added a wax seal pressed from a metal die. The seal was sometimes incorporated into a smaller design called a signet and engraved into a ring. The signet ring was practical as well as decorative. The wearer simply turned his hand over and pressed his signet ring into the waiting hot wax. The engraving in the seal often reflected a family’s heraldic symbols. Occasionally they included limited letters. Military leaders also attached their seals to military orders. Seals were also used in dies for badges and medallions.

Women of medieval western Europe liked to display their rank by wearing rings and brooches. These pieces of jewelry were usually fashioned from gold with precious stones set among engraved designs of human figures and coiled monsters. Some took the shape of animals that were symbols of family lines. Wearing the brooch showed allegiance to the family. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, jewels were also used to adorn hats and belts. Jewels encrusted the crowns of royalty and headwear of noble women.

The lord and lady of a manor hosted great feasts in the castle hall. The food was plentiful and elegantly presented. Beef and mutton (sheep) were stewed with onions, garlic and herbs. Venison (deer), swans, geese and quail were roasted. Pastry, called a coffin, was filled with a mixture of meat, dates, ginger, vinegar, eggs and herbs. At royal meals, a peacock was cooked and reassembled with its feathers in place. Apples, pears, figs, grapes, oranges and lemons were picked from the castle gardens. Cheese was made and butter was churned. Fish was served Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Common vegetables were dried peas and beans. Chefs created spectacular desserts of sugar paste, marzipan and jelly painted and molded into shapes like castles or ships. Milk was used chiefly for cooking such things as fine almond puddings.

The finest grains were grown at local manors, ground into flour at the lord's mill and baked into bread in the castle kitchen or bakehouse. Some grains were used to bake trenchers, flat, coarse bread made from whole wheat. Stale trenchers were used as dining plates. The trenchers soaked up the gravy from stews. The peasants ate their gravy-soaked trenchers while the wealthy gave theirs to the poor or fed them to the dogs.

Typical medieval pottery was finished with a green glaze. Crude pottery jugs were used to carry ale or wine for the ordinary diners in the great hall. In order to make the jugs more attractive, potters often molded faces or animals into the surface. A jug's legs might have resembled animal feet. The spout was sometimes shaped like an animal's head through which the jug's contents was poured into equally crude mugs. Often two diners would share a bowl or cup. Eventually jugs were made from copper alloy. It was still characteristic, however, for them to feature animal characteristics as part of its design.

People of the Middle Ages were great lovers of poetry and legends. As they could not read, a storyteller or recitalist of verses was very popular. Wandering musicians, poets and storytellers, known as troubadours, traveled through the land entertaining lords and ladies with tales of love, chivalrous deeds and the bravery of knights. Many castles had a troubadour of its own who resided there and entertained guests after dinner. The troubadour accompanied himself on the Lute or some other musical instrument. Recitals of romantic tales and lengthy poems centered around the name of a favorite hero were especially popular. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest and Saint George and the Dragon were particularly favorite subjects.

People of all classes gathered in the great hall of the castle for meals and entertainment. Board games such as Checkers and Backgammon were popular among all the people. Children played a board game called Foxes and Geese. Chess was a favorite because it had a mock battlefield where players could develop strategy and pieces could attack each other. Marbles and Horseshoes were other popular activities. Adults even played children's games such as Blindman's Bluff. Boys games taught them how to behave like knights. One game was called Robber and another The King Doesn't Lie. Boys also made hobbyhorses and showed off for girls by charging at each other.

Men and women of the early Middle Ages wore simple tunics, called surcoats, made from linen or wool. A knight wore a sleeved undertunic of linen or wool, reaching below the knees. Over this was a sleeveless tunic, open at the sides and fastened with a belt. Men wore loose breeches or long stockings of bright colors under their tunics. The woman's tunic developed into a long dress with oversized armholes and worn over a long-sleeved gown. Cloaks were often worn over the tunics. Clothes for the wealthy became more colorful in the 1300s. Dozens of buttons decorated the outer garments. The surcoat was edged with fur. The sleeves buttoned tightly from wrist to elbow. Jeweled felt hats and capes lined in fur were popular. Shoes became so pointed that the front was curled up and fastened to the knee with a small jeweled chain.

During the Middle Ages, manuscripts were written on parchment and, later, on paper called vellum. Monks worked in a special place in the monasteries called the scriptorium and produced most of the books. Manuscript production was highly specialized. One group of monks prepared the vellum and a second group did the writing. A third group decorated the manuscripts. Finally, a fourth group of monks put the finished manuscripts in the library, sold them or traded them to other monasteries. Most books produced during the Middle Ages were Bibles or other religious books. Nonreligious books included books about beasts called bestiaries, romances and the works of ancient Greek and Roman authors.

Many manuscripts of the Middle Ages were beautifully decorated with pictures or designs in a variety of colors. Often, gold or silver leaf was used on the initial letters and the decoration. These pictures, designs and decorations on a manuscript page were called illuminations. The bright and gilded colors of the manuscripts, indeed, appeared illuminated. Different styles of illumination developed throughout Europe. All, however, used six basic forms: animals, branches with leaves or berries, geometric designs, ornamental letters, braids and scrollwork. Some illuminators were monks, others were professional painters, both women and men. Their miniature pictures added interest and were helpful in telling the story.

A castle was the home and fortress of a feudal lord. They were built to protect those who lived in or near them from thieves, rival lords and invaders from other lands. Servants, soldiers, priests, tailors and bakers worked within the castle walls. The first castles were built from wood, but were later replaced by stone construction and surrounded by thick stone walls. Those with two walls, one inside the other, were called concentric. There were round or square towers where the walls met. The main tower, with walls as thick as nine feet (three meters), was called the keep where the castle's lord, his family and his knights ate and slept. There were several wooden floors each with a large fireplace and connected by a spiral staircase. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, castles became very grand with more elaborate furnishings, window designs and interior design.

Throughout medieval times, hats were often worn to indicate social status. Head coverings worn by the lower classes, as they toiled in the fields, provided much needed protection from harsh weather. Kings and church officials wore headwear to indicate their position of authority. And, of course knights wore armor to protect their heads in combat. During the 1100s and 1200s women wore metal hair nets, veils and draped throat covers called wimples which were worn with various hood-like coverings. Men wore hoods that had long tails called liripipes. By the 1300s people began to wear hats for decoration resulting in a large variety of hat styles. Eastern influences resulted in hats that resembled turbans. During the 1400s many European women wore a tall cone-shaped hat with a streaming veil.

A young boy training to be a knight spent the first years of his life with his family learning to ride a pony and care for horses. When seven, he became a page in a nobleman's household where he learned to hunt, play chess and practice chivalrous behavior. He also served meals to castle diners. At 14, he was given a sword and became a squire. He trained for battle and the joust and performed important castle tasks such as pouring the wine or carving the meat. He acted as a personal servant to a knight. He cleaned and assisted the knight by donning his armor. At 21, when training was complete he was knighted in a ceremony called The Accolade. Dressed in a white shirt, gold tunic and purple cloak, a squire knelt before the man knighting him who tapped him with a sword on each shoulder and stated, "Be thou a knight." After the 1100s this distinction also brought with it independence and a parcel of land.

A knight wore a full metal bodysuit called armor for protection in combat or displays of skill. Because the outcome of a battle depended not only on the skill of the knight, but also on the strength of his armor, armorers (makers of armor) became respected craft workers. A knight was dressed in armor by his squire, who always worked from the feet up. The last thing to go on was the helmet. While a helmet usually weighed between 3 to 7 pounds (11/2 to 3 kg) some weighed over 16 pounds (7.4 kg). It was strapped to the body armor so the knight's shoulders bore the incredible weight. The helmet had a visor that opened like a door. In the 1500s it was fashionable to decorate the visors on helmets worn at tournaments. A knight's helmet had a crest of feathers or other light material.

Once or twice a year a town might hold a fair to which merchants came from distant places to sell their wares. During this time, tumblers and minstrels, trained bears and horses would perform their tricks. Markets were held in the town square one or two days each week.
 Everyday life was quite different. The shops of craftsmen lined the streets. The shops were similar to booths with shutters that opened during market hours. Here, on the first floor of their home, the craftsmen were busy at work and offered their items for sale. Hanging over the shop doors were signs with painted pictures suggesting the business of the shop owner, a boot for the cobbler, a ring for the goldsmith, bread for the baker, and so on.

During the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, town craftsmen formed associations called guilds according to the kind of work they did. There were guilds of carpenters, weavers, millers, butchers, bakers, grocers, tailors, goldsmiths, armorers, masons and shoemakers. No one was allowed to engage in a craft unless they were a guild member. Officers were chosen, dues were levied and honesty in trade was monitored. A guild helped its members by caring for its sick and poor.
 Important guilds had their own halls in which guild business was conducted. Each guild had a banner on which the emblems showing the tools of their craft and their motto were displayed. Guild members had uniforms, called livery, which they wore when meeting. The livery was usually of two colors, scarlet and green, black or deep blue.

Metals of all kinds were combined for many practical uses during the Middle Ages. A metalworker (or smith) worked to forge horseshoes, harnesses and stirrups. An armorer created the metal armor worn by knights. Nails of all sizes were everyday necessities. A metalworker also made thimbles for the seamstress and tools for the laborer. Lead was poured into molds to create figurines, plaques and badges. Individually cast keys locked everything from chests and caskets to castles. Castles had other metalwork needs including elaborate door hinges and barrel hoops. A heavy iron gate, called a portcullis, protected the castle entrance. Each diner in the great hail had a specially-made personal spoon.

Detailed engravings of knights in armor can sometimes be found in cathedrals and churches of the medieval period. These portraits were carefully engraved onto a sheet of metal very similar to brass. Skilled engravers showed accurate detail in their engravings. They were able to engrave each link in the knight's mesh mail, shield details and armor designs.
 Paint was sometimes applied to add color the the knight's flag or shield. The portraits were usually made to honor an exemplary and famous knight who had died. The complete portraits were set in gravestones on the church floor or on top of raised tombs.

Dragons are mythical creatures found throughout stories and legends of medieval times. Legends describe them as large, lizard-like creatures that breathe fire and have a long, scaly tail. Some who lived during the Middle Ages blamed fire-breathing dragons for the destruction of crops, cities and other calamities. Dragons were also blamed for stealing jewels from the wealthy and cattle from nearby farms. According to medieval legends, dragons lived in wild, remote regions of the world and guarded stolen treasures in their dens. It was believed that a person who killed a dragon supposedly gained its wealth.
 The dragon was also a popular heraldic symbol, found on shields and family crests.

The construction of a cathedral sometimes extended over two or three centuries. One generation planned it and another finished the work. Great lofty windows were filled with stained glass of exquisite colors. The Gothic arches of doorways and ceilings were ornamented with figures of saints and angels. The tops of pillars were carved with lace-like foliage. On the roofs, stonecutters placed weird stone figures. Through the mouths of these figures rainwater from the roof drained. These carvings were called gargoyles, which means gullet (throat). They gained their name because of the gurgling noise the water made when passing through them. Gargoyles projected from the building as much as three feet (91 cm). Originally intended to protect the building from the effects of rain, the gargoyles became important decoration on medieval cathedrals.

Chivalry was the code, rules and values that guided a knight's life. The code of chivalry grew with the songs of the minstrels in the 1000s and 1100s. The code included a devotion to duty, fair play on the battlefield, honesty, good manners and bravery. A knight was expected to protect the weak and show respect toward women. He was to be generous and courteous to all. He championed right against injustice and evil and never flinched in the face of the enemy. Above all, a knight defended the church and was ready to die for it. A knight who was proved guilty of cowardice or other serious misconduct was disgraced by having his sword and his spurs broken. The violent life of the Middle Ages made it difficult to prevent violations of the code.

In the 1200s, knights met in assemblies called round tables. Jousting, a contest between two knights on horseback, was a popular activity at these meetings. The knights charged at each other on horseback with heavy, blunt lances and shields and tried to knock each other to the ground. Both wore armor and their horses were covered in embroidered cloth. The wooden lances splintered easily on impact. Many mock battles were held. A joust could also be a form of "trial by combat" in which a man accused of a crime might prove his innocence in victory. Several jousts comprised a tournament and the victorious knight was often granted great honors prizes.

Knights practiced their skill during peacetime by competing against each other in mock battles called tournaments. The main event was the joust. Archery competitions, wrestling matches and sword fights were also staged. Scores were kept by the heralds who assisted a marshal with judging. Both knight and horse wore their crests and colors. Colorful shields and banners representing the knights flew from the grandstands. There was a special gallery for the ladies with a seat of honor for the "Queen of Love and Beauty". Sometimes they wore a "favor", a scarf or handkerchief belonging to a lady who favored the man. The winner of a particular event would present the favor to his lady, tied on his lance. In some tournaments, winners were entitled to the loser's horse, armor and weapons, items of considerable value in those times.

Streets in a medieval town were narrow, crooked, dark, and filthy. They were usually not paved. The people threw all their garbage and rubbish into the streets. Disease spread quickly and killed many people.
 During the 1200s, people in some towns began to pave their streets with rough cobblestones. These naturally rounded stones were carefully laid, sometimes forming a pattern, over the dirt streets. Their uneven surface made it difficult to walk on, but cobblestone streets were an improvement over the existing conditions. Townspeople began to take other measures for more sanitary conditions.

Early medieval towns were only small settlements outside the walls of a castle or a church. As the towns grew, walls were built around them which limited the amount of land available. Buildings five or six stories high stood crowded together. Since there were no sidewalks, the building fronts were lined up along the narrow, winding unpaved or cobblestone streets.
 Wealthy citizens had houses of stone and brick, but most were made of wood filled with wattle (woven sticks) and daub (sealing clay or mud) with roofs of slate tiles or wooden shingles. Flags hung over businesses to identify their trade or craft. Men engaging in the same craft usually lived on the same Street with the Street being named accordingly, Threadneedle Street, Tanners' Row and so on. Those who ventured out at night carried torches on the dark streets.

Often during the Middle Ages, a man came to be known by the name of his trade. A worker in metals was called a smith. If his name were John, he would come to be known around town as John, the smith. A pottery worker named David might be called David Potter. A man named James who was a fine hunter might be called James Hunter.
 Many family names today have come from the trades of the Middle Ages. Such names as Carpenter, Miller, Baker, Weaver, Goldman, might well be traced to medieval craftsmen.

Of all of the holidays, May Day, a merry celebration of the arrival of spring, was the most important for the poor people during the Middle Ages, particularly those in England. Long before daybreak, peasants headed into the woods to gather and cover themselves in newly-bloomed flowers. They adorned every door and window with fresh boughs, garlands and nosegays.
 The greatest treasure of the day was the Maypole brought back from the woods by several yoke of oxen, with a nosegay of flowers tied to the tip of each horn. The huge pole was raised, decorated with flowers and wrapped with colorful streamers from top to bottom. A banner flew from the top. Villagers seized the streamers and danced around the Maypole. There were archery contests and games. The winner was crowned with a laurel wreath.

Relics, skeletal remains or possessions esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr, were worshipped by people throughout medieval Europe. They felt that possessing or touching a relic might heal illness or help them obtain entry to heaven. A new cathedral offered a worthy resting place for the sacred remains of knights and religious figures. Elaborate sanctuaries were constructed within the cathedral to house the most revered relics.
 Christians made pilgrimages to well-known shrines. They would wear a symbolic badge to represent the pilgrimage. There was also a vast business in the trading of these relics.  Unfortunately, many of these holy relics were forgeries.