stand each other's language If you traveled beyond three or four villages you probably wouldn't understand the lan guage People worked hard and many died from sickness At that time no one knew what made people sick They thought that illness was caused by smells or magic People then had very simple lives but they began reading and writing trading goods in markets and going to fairs where they saw new things such as spices silk fabric and perfumes as well as jugglers puppet shows and plays Religion was very important People went to the church or synagogue day and prayed before every they went to bed at night in the morning when they got up and before meals Some people devoted their lives to the church living together in monasteries as monks or nuns There they grew gardens wrote books and taught lessons to children They cared for orphans and the poor As protection against evil spells children wore pieces of coral on necklaces Children of ordinary families had to begin working as soon as they could walk They gathered sticks for firewood picked berries and collected the bits of wool that fell off of the sheep As they got older they were given jobs herding geese or pigs Girls were hired out as maids when they were six years old By the time children were 10 years old they were working like adults ChildhoodWhat Was It
Long ago babies caught illnesses easily and many didn't live very long Children in the castles were trained to do jobs too Girls were taught things that they needed to know for their job as lady of the castle when they married They learned to plan meals and banquets to heal the wounded and to train young pages in good manners Girls learned to sing and to play musical instruments so that they could entertain guests They learned to ride horses expertly Wealthy girls were also expected to do fine needlework and to dress beautifully The sons of the castle families were trained to become knights First they worked as pages in another family's castle Pages served and cleaned during banquets When they were teenagers they became squires to knights They carried the knight's equipment at tournaments and battles and helped him with his horse and armor Rich or Poor Peasant or Royal Children also had time for toys games and singing They played sports and raised pets such as cats dogs and birds They went to fairs to watch plays and puppet shows or to tournaments to cheer for their favorite knight By the end of the Middle Ages girls and boys of wealthy families were taught reading and writing by tutors or in schools Parents read bedtime stories to
their children and told them some of the same stories we still tell today Wealthy parents began teaching their children how to read and write before they were seven years old Records tell of one girl who could read at the age of
Let's Dress Up Clothes in the Middle Ages were loose and worn in layers Everyone wore a long outer garment stock ings a shirt a jacket and a gown or coat no under wear In cold weather a hooded cape was worn over everything Rich and poor wore the same styles but made from different cloth Peasants wore work clothing made of gray or brown homespun fabric They had one outfit for dressing up on holidays Royalty and rich people wore clothes made of fine fabrics dyed in beautiful colors They enjoyed wearing fur lace ribbons and lots of silver buttons or gold embroidery on their clothes It was against the law for peasants to wear certain colors such as purple and their clothing could only have a limited number of buttons or trim It was against the law for peasants to wear the fine things that the wealthy could Dresses had full skirts and fancy sleeves One style of sleeves for ladies was so tight that the dress had to be stitched onto the woman each time it was
