Works Cited:

Works Cited

Blackwood, Gary L. Life in a Medieval Castle. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2000. Print.

Castles. ABC CILO, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011.

"Daily Life Through History Online." Web.

Eastwood, Kay. Life in a Castle. New York: Crabtree Pub., 2004. Print.

Singman, Jeffrey L. "The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series — Www.praeger.com." Home — Greenwood Publishing Group — Www.praeger.com. Greenwood Press, 2002. Web. 13 May 2011. <http://www.praeger.com/catalog/series/The Greenwood Press Daily Life Through History Series.aspx>.

Steele, Philip. Castles. New York: Kingfisher, 1995. Print.

Web.

How was life in Medieval Europe different than life today?

What was your favorite topic you learned about on my blog?

How could I make my blog more exciting?

What was home life usually like in a Medieval castle?

          Life for children that lived in castles was very different. For example, the children often got married very young! Sometimes girls would marry as young as twelve years old and boys would marry as young as seventeen years old! That isn’t usually how it works these days!

         Early castles were not considered comfortable until the 1200s' this is when the castles began to get new technology. Castles began to have heat and other well-furnished items. For entertainment children would listen to music either sung or played by an instrument. They would also make pottery, play chess, and embroider things. As you can see, this is a little different than what we do for entertainment today! With the new technology we have, our entertainment often consist things like T.V., video games, texting, etc.
          Speaking of technology, before the 1200s' most castles didn't even have running water! Gross! Anybody agree?! The castles were often dirty and some even had rats! Even worse! Hopefully you got a glimpse of what life was like in a Medieval castle! It's obviously a lot different than what we're used to!

How did castles affect civilian life?

          The castles of Medieval Europe were actually helpful to the civilizations. In time of war they acted as a refuge (shelter providing safety) for the people. Because castles were used to protect people, they were often built near border regions. This is because many raids (attacks) occurred near the borders. Scary! As you can see castles were a very important part of warfare! In fact, they were even used for organizing business for feudal lords (important lords). That isn't all, castles also housed people, the people helped make up the castles residency!
           Although the castles were used to protect people during warfare, the people also had to pay more taxes. This is because the castles were so expensive to build. Although with the help of the people, they were able to build new castles and protect more people!

What did Medieval castles look like?

          Medieval castles were made of wood at first but were later built with stone. This is for many reasons. They were more sturdy than wooden castles, they were more sophisticated, and they didn't catch fire as easily. Although stone castles had better quality, they also costed a lot more to build! This is because the stone had to be imported from very far away, unlike the wood needed to build a wooden castle.

          Besides the material the castles were made of, their actual look wasn't much different. Most of the castles you see have the same features. For example, they both have moats, drawbridges, and small windows for shooting arrows through. These things naturally give castles that "common castle" look, even though they are different castles!

         You can easily identify castles! Especially when you consider each part of the castle! A castle has many different rooms. Some have more than others, but a typical castle includes a dungeon (like a cell), the moat (a deep and wide ditch filled with water) surrounding the castle, a drawbridge (a walk way to get across the moat), the inner baily (the inner wall), and the outer baily (the outer wall). Hopefully now you can tell what kind of rooms a typical castle has!