Well, learning hasn’t been much fun since my prolonged stay in bed, but with the ideas we implemented during our unit study on the Middle Ages, and Heather and Jon’s hard work, we enjoyed a great Medieval Feast for Jedidiah’s birthday—an ideal theme since he was receiving the Playmobil Medieval Castle for his birthday gift.
Heather made medieval banners and hung them throughout our living room and dining room. Above the dining room table, she twisted orange & red and blue & green streamers and secured with coordinating balloons to give it a feel of grand pageantry. She covered the table with a grey plastic coated tablecloth to look like a smooth stone table. In the center, she placed our large heavy candelabrum. All of our candles were placed throughout the dining and living rooms, as these would be our only source of light.
Jon created a fireplace by constructing a metal frame in which he screwed thick cardboard topped with ¼” thick plywood making it sturdy enough for decorations. On the mantle, Heather placed candlesticks on top of doilies and a picture of Henry VIII she had colored and framed. Inside the fireplace, Jon placed electrical logs. Jedidiah propped a small straw broom against the fireplace and positioned his little stool in front, so he could warm his feet by the fire. I placed Sonia’s needlepoint on the stool. With all the electrical lights off, candles lit, fireplace plugged in, and the minstrels commanded to play and sing (an album from the library—Waverly Consort Renaissance Favorites), our Great Hall was in order. By the way, we also turned down the heat to create the cold, drafty atmosphere of a castle. However, one aunt from Florida didn’t appreciate our authenticity in this area, so we turned up the heat.
To receive our guests in proper attire, the girls dressed in long dresses and medieval damsel hats. They looked lovely. The birthday boy wore Sonia’s heavy red tights, black boots, a white turtleneck covered by my red sweater vest (opening in the back), which came down to his knees, loosely belted with a black belt. Since this was his celebration to be knighted, he also wore his armor—breastplate, shield, helmet, and sword. Jon wore my large, cowled tunic top which he poofed and belted loosely over my thick black tights in baggy high-heeled boots. He looked so adorable. I could make some money showing the video of him dressed like that. Any bids???
When the guests pounded on our castle, Jedidiah had them identify themselves before he let down the drawbridge by yelling, “Hark, who goes there?” They were then officially announced as the Lord and Lady of Yorkshire, Lancaster, Sherwood, Devonshire…. Two of Jedidiah’s aunts made hats by winding file folders into cones and covering them with lace curtains.
When everyone was seated at the table, we placed a thick slice of bread, from Schnucks’ large round loaves, in front of them, as these were their plates. We then filled their large heavy goblets with their choice of either ale (non-alcoholic beer) or wine (apple-grape juice). They then served themselves from platters of deer meat (roast beef), roast pork, and pheasant (chicken wings). My mom couldn’t stand it that we weren’t eating any vegetables—peasant food you know—so she brought carrots and celery but left the greens on and stuck them in pewter steins to make me feel that it was okay that these were a part of our authentic meal. To everyone’s surprise, we ate exclusively with our fingers. So I push the authenticity to the limits sometimes, but everyone enjoys my parties. I did make up for their inconvenience and gained back lost points when we served the castle birthday cake on grey paper plates (looked like pewter) with forks.
Heather read Medieval ballads, and we played Blindman’s Bluff, checkers, and chess. Jedidiah was knighted; the children fenced; and we held a contest on medieval history. Some of the questions were as follows: Who helped protect the nobleman? Knights. The safest place in the castle was the keep, which was home to the nobleman and his family. The siege of a castle could last for several weeks or months. The people tried to keep a huge store of supplies enough to last them as long as a year. The castle was defended with spears, bows and arrows, stones, and boiling liquid. Knight means servant. Each knight regarded himself as a protector of the weak and defenseless particularly widows and orphans. Their code of conduct and action was known as chivalry. The training of a knight began at age 7 when he was sent to live in the castle of a great nobleman. As a page he spent his time learning manners and was taught to ride and use arms. At the age of 14 or 15, he became a squire, a knight’s assistant, and continued to learn manners and more about the care and use of armor, weapons, and methods of fighting. If he passed his training at age 21 he was accepted as a knight. Knights received special blessings from the church and were expected to carry out its teachings of love and kindness.
**************************************