What it Was Like to Live in a Castle

                                                                   October 17, 2002

     How would you like to visit a castle?  It's your lucky day.  Let the Room 12 tour guides show you around!
     Most castles were built in Europe in the 12th century, or Middle Ages.  Most were built on steep hills or mountain tops that made it hard for enemies to attack. The first castles made were built by first digging a ditch, filling the middle in with a mound of earth, and building a wooden fence around the center.  Wood castles were much easier to make than the newer, stone castles.
     Later castles were made of stone and could take more than 20 years to build.  Stones had to be dug by hand, and moved by carts and ropes.  It took lots of people a long time to build a castle.  Skilled workers went through many stages to become master craftsmen.  Newer castles had more rooms than older castles.
     One of the busiest rooms in the castle was the Great Hall. It was the largest room in the castle, and feasts, dancing, and entertainment went on there.  At one end of the Great Hall was a high table.
The library had many, many books for people that could read. The keep was the safest place in the castle.  The king and queen lived there. The well was kept there.  Storerooms held food, tools, and weapons.
     The stables held the horses and their supplies.  In the bedrooms people slept on high stone beds. The church in a castle was called a chapel. People prayed and had weddings there.  The laundry house had many buckets to wash clothes. Soldiers, workers, knights, and members of the royal family who got sick or hurt went to the castle hospital.  In the castle kitchen, two meals were made each day.
     Life in a castle was busy.  Servants had lots of chores and had to use their own money to buy things.  One chore was picking berries, corn, and other foods to eat.
     It was always cold in a castle, so people used fireplaces for heat.  Fireplaces were also used for cooking and for light.  There was no electricity so castle people used lots of candles made of tallow and wax.  Torches in wall holders lit up the castle.  Sometimes fires were built outdoors for watchmen too.
     The lord of the castle got up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning.  The children went to school from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.  Education was only for wealthy families.  Princesses had to learn things like horseback riding.  They were often married at age 15 or 18.
     For fun, there were horse races, games like Blind Man's Bluff, jesters who entertained, feasts, dancing bears, and carnivals.
     Rats and mice walked around freely in the castle.  Some rats were kept as pets.
     Most people didn't take a bath unless a doctor told them to.  Castles did not have bathtubs, sinks, or washing machines like we do today.
     The people who owned the castles were kings, or lords, and their families.  They weren't the only ones who lived there, though.  Castle builders fixed and built castles. Cooks and servants, woodworkers, people who took care of animals, farmers, pages, carpenters, knights, princes, princesses, and jesters lived in castles too.
     At age 7, a young boy went to live at another castle to train to be a knight.  He had to learn to read and to fight, and to use different weapons.
    Animals were used for many things. People ate pigs, chickens, turkeys, and eggs from birds.  Cows were used for milk, cheese, cream, and leather too.  Animal skins and furs were used for some clothing.  Horses, dogs, donkeys, and oxen pulled heavy loads. Animal fat was used to make candles.  Trained carrier pigeons carried messages back and forth between castles.  Horses carried hunters. Dogs helped hunt too.  Some dogs were watchdogs.
     Sometimes a castle would be attacked.  Castles had armies of knights to protect them.  Castles usually had water-filled moats (sometimes with alligators) around the outside.
     From the top of the castle, knights would drop rocks, hot oil, and boiling liquids on people climbing up the walls. Fighters fought on spiral staircases inside the castle. The walls were three layers thick. Guards stood on the towers to watch.  Soldiers wore armor to dodge arrows and other attacks. Sandbags protected archers. The drawbridge acted like a seesaw and would be raised if the castle were under attack.  Attackers who were caught might be executed or sent to the dungeon.
     The Room 12 tour guides thank you for visiting our castle. The dragon is waking up, so we'll have to go!
 

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