Boys from wealthy families were expected to become a knight. At five or six they had pretend battles with wooden swords. They were also sent to churches to learn the ways of the church. Often the lord or Duke who was looking after the page became very close and did things together. The page had to learn to wait on the Duke or lord with very good manners. Their guardian often told stories or songs about famous knights. When the page reached teenhood , he became a squire. He helped with the horses , armor and learned how to fight. Squires also learned to joust and had to hold a lance w

Women in the medieval times were expected to have many children. Often children died at a early age because of their diet and sanitary conditions. Each child had its own nurse and when they were older, sent to live with relatives. Girls had lady companions and learned how to embroider and some even learned how to read and write. Boys and girls played games ; like Blind mans Bluff and chess; and listened to songs and stories. Older boys and girls hunted. Hawking was a sport where the bird tries to kill another bird. The lords hunted almost every day and so they had fresh meat. If the meat went bad, the cooks pored salt and herbs on it and cooked it right away and served it to the lord and lady of the manor. During late spring and early fall , the lord let his animals run loose in the woods to feed on nuts and berries. So in the early spring the animals would be fat and ready to slaughter. After the slaughtered the animals , they preserved them in salt and put in a cool place so the meat didn't go bad. The church didn't allow meat to be eaten on Fridays , so instead people ate fish.

People living in castles liked pets. Ladies liked small dogs called lapdogs and men kept the big , furry gray hounds. Some cats were kept to , but only to keep mice and other small rodents out of the castle. People believed that cats were linked with witches and was afraid that it would lay a curse on someone. Pet birds and squirrels were kept in cages and got loose very often. One time a girls squirrel got loose and tried to catch it , but she fell from the castle wall and died.

In the 9th and 10th century ,castles were built to protect, defend, and to control lands owned by Kings and lords. The castle was the lords private home and served as headquarters. The first castles built in France weren't elaborate , but very simple , because of the frequent Viking attacks. When the Normans invaded the Saxons , they built simple castles to protect themselves from the Saxons they were ruling. They didn't fancy it up because their were lots of Viking attacks. The Normans invaded the Saxons. The Normans built simple castles to protect them from the Saxons they were ruling.

end of the fifteenth century, warfare changed. They didn't need knights any more because they had foot soldiers. They were more important. Archers helped Henry the V to win a battle in 1415. New weapons were made to drive out the English from France. In Normandy, the French used cannons to do battle. The earlier cannons were not that successful. Specialis

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Approximate Word count = 1725
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)