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March 16th, 2012 by gloria harchar

Medieval Falconry

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Falconry

Hunting with Falcons

The ancient art of falconry is commonly defined as the hunting of wild quarry using trained birds of prey. Strictly speaking falconry involves only the long-winged hawks, the Falcon family, and only a person who flies a falcon at wild quarry is entitled to call themselves a falconer, whereas the term hawking is used for anyone using a broad or short winged hawk, namely the true hawks, buzzards and eagles for the same purpose, and this person would be termed an austringer. The term hawk is broadly used to describe any trained bird of prey.

Using birds of prey by humans as a form of hunting appears to have originated in China around 680 BC. However, an Arabic account indicates the first falconer was a Persian King who became fascinated when he watched a falcon kill another bird. He ordered his men to capture the falcon so he could train it. The legend indicates that the King kept the bird with him at all times, and learned several lessons from it (Falconry, 2001).

Medieval books mention hawks of the tower and hawks of the fist, which roughly corresponds to falcons and hawks, respectively. The female hawk was preferred since it was both larger than the male and easier to train. Hawks were captured all over Europe, but birds from Norway or Iceland were considered of particularly good quality.

Training a hawk was a tedious process. It was normal at first to “seel” the bird’s eyelids—sew them shut—so that it would not be scared or distracted. The trainer would then carry the hawk on his arm for several days to get it accustomed to human presence. The eyes would gradually be unsealed, and the training would begin. The bird would be encouraged to fly from its perch to the falconer’s hand over a gradually longer distance. Hunting game would be encouraged first by the use of meat, then a lure, and eventually live prey. Such prey included herons, sometime with their legs broken to facilitate the kill.

Training a Falcon

Training a Falcon

Hawks were housed in mews, a special building found in most large medieval households that were built a distance from the castle so that the hawks would not be disturbed by activity from the main edifice. The mews could be rather elaborate structures. A proper mew had windows in the wall. The ground should be kept clean so that the bird’s regurgitation could be found and analyzed (Brault, 1985).

References

Brault, G. (1985). Hunting and Fowling, Western European. Dictionary of the Middle Ages vol.6, pp. 356–363.

Falconry, (2000). Reference from http://www.matrix2000.co.uk/falconry.htm.

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March 15th, 2012 by gloria harchar

Anglo-Saxon Life

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If two people had the same first name, Anglo-Saxons would add the place they came from or their job at the end of their first name. Those surnames today, (Baker, Potter, Farrier), which end in a place or a job, have Anglo-Saxon origins.

As far as clothing, Anglo-Saxon men wore tunics that were gathered at their waists along with hose and soft shoes. A woman’s robe extended to her feet. These tunics or robes were made of linen or wool with the more expensive being colorfully dyed and adorned with exotic borders. Both rich and poor used brooches to fix the clothing and stone amulets were worn for luck.

Weapons were those such as a spear made with a seven-foot-long-ash shaft and an iron head. This spear was used for throwing as well as jabbing. Shields were round and made of wood covered with leather, with an iron boss in the center. The nobles wielded swords about thirty inches long that were made of iron edged with steel. Often the hilt was elaborately carved, jeweled and inscribed with good luck symbols and the names of gods.

Travel was common and the main trade routes followed the old Roman roads. If one ventured off the main roads, travel became dangerous. Travelers were advised to make lots of noise with shouts and horns so as not to be confused with the outlaws that plagued the less-populated roads.

heptarchy

heptarchy

Anglo-Saxons divided Great Britain into seven separate kingdoms or shires–similar to states–according to the territory of the first tribes. This was commonly referred to as the heptarchy. Each shire was ruled by a king whose sons were known as aethelings. The shire was divided into hundreds–similar to counties–and these were the primary units of administration and the court system.

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February 28th, 2012 by gloria harchar

Saxon Law and Order

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Anglo-Saxon People and Law

Anglo-Saxon People and Law

The ties of kinship meant that the relatives of a murdered victim was obligated to exact vengeance for his or her death, which led to bloody and extensive feuds. To halt the blood feuds, wergelds were created, which set a monetary value on a person’s life based upon their wealth and social status and this value could also be used to set the fine payable if a person was injured or offended. The higher the murderer’s social status, the higher the fine levied against them.

Emphasis on social standing led to courts that did not attempt to discover the facts, instead, it was up to each party to get as many people as possible to swear to the rightness of their case. These people were called ‘oath helpers’. If the person was actually guilty, it was difficult for them to gather enough oath helpers. The word of a thane counted for that of six ceorls.

If the accused was found guilty, while maintaining his innocence, and was unable to find enough oath helpers, he would be allowed to prove his innocence through ‘trial by ordeal‘. This was conducted by church officials and before the trial began, the accused would be given the opportunity to confess. If he did not confess, he was given the choice between two ordeals: water or iron.

Water Ordeal

Water Ordeal

In the cold water ordeal, the accused was given holy water to drink and was then thrown in the river; the guilty floated and the innocent sank. In the hot water ordeal, the accused placed his hand in boiling water and retrieved a stone.

For the iron ordeal, the accused carried a glowing iron bar of nine feet. After the hot water and iron trials, the defendant’s hand was bandaged. If the wound healed without festering, the guilty was presumed innocent.

There were no jails or prison officers so there were only three options when passing sentence: fines, mutilation or death. Crimes such as arson, obvious murder and treachery to one’s lord received no compensation and the only punishment was death and forfeiture of one’s property to the king. The church preferred mutilation to death, as this allowed the guilty to expiate his crime and save his soul.

Hot Iron Ordeal

Hot Iron Ordeal

Anglo-Saxons brought a well developed legal system with them from Germany, the Netherlands and France. The hundred court was the lowest echelon of the judiciary system and met every four weeks. Above the hundred court was the shire court, meeting twice a year. The ealdorman, bishop and king’s shire-reeve presided over the shire court.

The vast majority of people were farmers. At first, the farms were owned outright. The ceorls worked in common fields that were divided into narrow strips that were shared out alternately so that each farmer received an equal share of the good and the bad land. These were later consolidated into large estates owned by the lord and the ceorls worked the land in return for service or produce or work the lord’s land a given number of days a year. These estates eventually became commercial enterprises, complete with a grain mill.

Crops most frequently grown were wheat, oats, rye and barley as well as peas, beans and lentils. Honey provided the only sweetener and the base for the popular drink, mead. Meat was acquired from cattle, goats and sheep. Horses and oxen were used for farm labor and transportation.

References

Dumville, D. (1992). Liturgy and the ecclesiastical history of late Anglo-Saxon England. Boydell & Brewer, Ltd. Rochester, NY.

Oliver, L. (2002). The beginnings of English law. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, Canada.

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February 23rd, 2012 by gloria harchar

Anglo-Saxon Hierarchy

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Anglo-Saxon King

Anglo-Saxon King

The Anglo-Saxon king, whether over-kings or under-kings, were peripatetic, which means they were constantly on the move, traveling across their kingdoms disbursing justice, giving out gifts won from raids and battles to those who supported the king. The traveling kind resolved disputes and provided entertainment for their nobles, as well as for the visiting dignitaries. Their court went with them on travels. When the king came, it was a real drain on resources because the receiving castle had to feed the king, his court and the dignitaries. Too, the kings would collect tribute. England was divided into administrative areas of about 50 to 100 square miles, and in each of these was a king’s “tun.” The king’s visit to the tun was often the occasion for markets, fairs, and festivities. Taxes were paid by coin by sale of surplus produce, while at the same time, dues were commuted to payment in coin rather than in kind.

The king’s tun was a point of public rally where people came together not only to give the king and his entourage board and lodging but they also appealed to the king in cases of dispute, lands granted, gifts given, appointments made, laws announced, policy debated, and ambassadors heard. People also gathered for other reasons–such as to hold fairs, as noted above.

Fairs had been held since prehistoric times and often on tribal lines for different villages to exchange their surpluses and specialties. Some fairs only dealt with one sort of commodity such as sheep. Some places are named something-port (Southport, Davensport), which is an Old English word for market.

Another reason for mingling was for sports and games. There were also gatherings for holy reasons, such as visiting a bishop or holy place or shrine. The hundred meeting (a hundred men under arms) might also provide a gathering place, the shire moot another but larger areas also had assemblies. Becontree was an ancient hundred in the southwest of the county of Essex, England.

Too, it seems there was an Anglo-Saxon hierarchy of settlements as well as a showing off specialties at various settlements. For instance, if a particular area was good at a certain craft, such as shoe making or soap making or wool carding, these places were named for their specialism or services.

The basic unit of land was called the hide and was enough land to support one family. A hide varied in size from 40 acres to 4 square miles. Approximately 100 hides formed a hundred and each villare or shire contained many hundreds. For each hundred, one leader–who was known as the “hundred eolder” was responsible for the administration, justice and supply of military troops as well as the position of leadership of those forces. This office was not hereditary but by the tenth century, was selected among a few outstanding families.

Shire-Reeves

Shire-Reeves

Ealdormen and shire-reeves, or what we now call sheriffs, were appointed to guard the king’s interests. Within the shires were towns or burhs (which were fortified towns). Initially only some towns were walled, often with earthworks reminiscent of the Bronze Age.

Wealthier lords lived on estates, with a main rectangular hall surrounded by outlying buildings for storage, several living and working chambers that were used for various purposes. Inside the hall, the lord might show off expensive wall hangings or paintings. Feasts were held within the hall, and the lord was expected to be a opulent host.

Society was divided into various classes. The top was the king, who was essentially the war leader. He was expected to provide his followers with opportunities for plunder and glory. The king who denied his followers opportunities for land, slaves and plunder were reviled and could very well be assassinated.

Below the king were two levels of freemen: the upper class thanes and the lower class ceorls. The difference between these two levels of freemen had to do with the amount of land owned. A thane owned at least five hides of land. Aside from the amount of land owned a ceorl might be wealthier than a thane. A thane was similar to a knight and stood at the lowest level of the aristocracy. A thane that offered good service was rewarded with gifts, land and elevation to ealdorman. Members of the clergy held the title of thane and bishops held the title of ealdorman.

Ceorls

Ceorl

The ceorls were divided into three classes of freemen (there were many degrees of freedom from what I am beginning to learn–I will write more about this later. But these are the three classes of ceorls, or “freemen”):

  1. Geneatas, a peasant aristocracy who paid rent to their overlord,
  2. Kotsetlas, and;
  3. Geburs or lower middle class.

All ceorls had the right and duty to serve in the fyrd, which was the Anglo-Saxon military. If a ceorl held five hides of land, he became entitled to the rights of a thane but could not be elevated to the title of ealdorman, which is really sad, in my opinion.

The fyrd were highly trained thanes chosen from the hundred. These thanes became professional warriors. In times of peace, thanes served one month of every three in rotation. One of the greatest virtues of a thane was his loyalty to his lord. And listen to this–if their king or lord died in battle, his men were expected to die avenging his death, as it was dishonorable to leave a battlefield where one’s lord or king had been slain. So, they had to die! Those who didn’t die in battle with their lord or king were executed by their lord’s successor. When not at war, the fyrd also acted as a police force.

Below the thanes and ceorls were slaves or bondsman, known as the theow. This was the largest commercial enterprise of the Dark Ages. Some men and women were born into slavery but war was the most common source of slaves.

Slavery was the fate of many of the conquered Celtic Britons. Those unable to pay a fine might become slaves and in some cases a child might be sold into slavery in time of famine to ensure the child’s survival. Slavery might not last a lifetime if a slave could be ransomed by friends or relatives. Too, a slave could be granted freedom by their master. Those enslaved for an inability to pay a fine, might be released from slavery once their labor measured the amount of the debt.

Celtic Slaves

Celtic Slaves

Slavery was an integral part of Anglo-Saxon economy. Almost all of the slaves traded in the middle ages were captured in raids or warfare. It was the practice to kill the leaders of the defeated army and enslave the villagers. Many of these slaves were indigenous Celts. Slavery was abolished at the Westminster Council in 1102.

Anglo-Saxon society was knit together with strong ties to kin and lord. (Which was why the Normans forced every Anglo-Saxon lady to wed a Norman knight–the quickest way to infiltrate the Saxon culture). The tie was to the lord himself, not his station. A kingdom was only as strong as its war-leader king.

 

Reference

(1837). The pictorial history of England: being the history of the people as well as a history of the kingdom. William Clowes & Sons. London, England.

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February 15th, 2012 by gloria harchar

Duke

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duke

Duke and Duchess

It was only a little over six hundred years ago that the peerage system evolved, when all peerages began to be created by letters patent, a writ of summons to the Lords, the Great Council which existed before Parliament began. A throwback to these days is the usage of issuing writs to peers to attend Parliament. Those summoned were regarded by the Monarch as trustworthy and well-beloved persons of either gender, meaning that a woman can be a Baroness in her own right. There were other methods of creation, such as by charter, which is a form of letters patent, or by tenure. Today, there is no such thing as a peerage by tenure in England.

The orders of peerage in descending order are duke, marquess, earl, viscount, baron, and baronet. Today I’m going to talk about the position of duke.

Duke

No dukes were created in England until 1337, when King Edward III made the Black Prince Duke of Cornwall. For several centuries, two lay figures represented the Duke of Aquitane and the Duke of Normandy at the coronations of English sovereigns. They appeared for the last time at the coronation of George III in 1761, since he renounced the title of King of France in 1800 and ceased to include the fleurs de lis on his royal shield. The number of dukedoms has never been large and for thirty years, 1572 to 1603, there were no dukes in England.

The title of Duke of Cornwall dates from a charter of 1337, by which Edward III made his eldest son, then Earl of Chester and the famous Black Prince, Duke of Cornwall. This was the first time the title of duke was used in England. To this date, the eldest son of the reigning English monarch becomes at birth or from the time of his parent’s accession, Duke of Cornwall. Since 1302, the eldest son of the reigning sovereign has also always been invested as the Prince of Wales. However, members of peerage families, even the heir to a peerage, are untitled, as only the reigning peer and his wife are classed as noble. Any title afforded or used by a peers’ children is a matter of courtesy.

The titles of dukedoms are taken from place names, not family names. An example is the Duke of Devonshire. The style of duke is His Grace, a duchess, Her Grace. When addressing either, the form used is Your Grace. When writing to a duke the letter is opened My Lord Duke. A duchess is addressed in writing as Madam. The eldest son of a duke is styled automatically as Marquess, ranking in precedent just below a full-blooded Marquess. His courtesy title, however, will be the highest ranking of his father’s lesser titles. When he marries, his wife and children share the honors of his rank. The eldest son’s son would be styled Earl of  So-and-so.

A Duke’s younger children are called Lord or Lady, followed by their Christian and family name, i.e., Lord John Doe. He is never called Lord Doe, but rather Lord John. The wives of younger sons of Dukes are styled Lady John Doe, never Lady Doe. Less formally, she may be called Lady John. The children of younger sons of Dukes have no distinction and are styled plain Mr. or Miss. A Duke’s mother is styled the Dowager Duchess. His widow, if a Dowager duchess exists, is styled Joan, Duchess of So-and-so until she herself becomes Dowager. As for the Table of Precedence, the wives of a sovereign’s Uncles come above English Duchesses, while the wives of the eldest sons of Dukes com above the Duke’s daughters.

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February 2nd, 2012 by gloria harchar

Crowning the King

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Bayeux Tapestry of King Harold's Death

I ran across a little tidbit that I thought I would share because it fits perfectly into the setting of my story that I’m working on called Unlikely Knight. The Year of the Three Kings is the most memorable date in English history. The year started with the death of King Edward the Confessor. Then King Harold II marched frantically up and down his fragmenting kingdom until he met his demise with an arrow through his eye at the Battle of Hastings, where he fought vainly against the invading Normans. William the Conqueror oversaw the most brutal transformation of English life in history. He installed a French-speaking ruling class and sliced up the ownership of the land between his friends and collaborators. Edward has recently built Westminster Abbey and was buried there. Edward had wanted to go to Rome because he was a devout Christian; but his adviser told him it wouldn’t be wise since he would be gone so long from his kingdom, so with his riches from his pilgrimage he gave money to the poor and he rebuilt Westminster Abbey on Thorney Island. Anyway, William chose to be crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. Since then, all monarchs have chosen to be crowned there.

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