After waking up in your unfamiliar setting, the first meal you will get is breakfast, served after morning mass. This is a small snack that consists of a hunk of bread and some ale or cider.1 After breakfast, dinner is served sometime between ten o'clock and noon. This is the largest meal of the day. Supper is another light meal served near the time of sunset.

The table at a meal is covered with a tablecloth that has on side reaching all the way to the floor. This is the side where places are set, the extra cloth is used as a napkin. Instead of plates, day old flat pieces of bread, called

The women wear a long linen chemise as an undergarment. They wear hose that is gartered at the knee, and a leather or silk girdle when going out. A dress, called a kirtle, is worn with the sleeves laced from wrist to elbow. This is covered by a cloak, or surcoat, which is tied at the waist with a belt and has full sleeves that show the sleeves of the kirtle underneath.3 The shoes women wear are made of soft leather and have thin soles. Women's hair is parted down the middle into two long plaits and covered with a white linen wimple. Women are starting to coil hair on either side of the head. Popular fabrics are scarlet, silk, linen, heavily embroidered cloth, and wool. Purple, scarlet, watchet, red, tawny, yellow, brown, red-brown, green, murrey, and gray, are commonly used colors.4

or fortunes are written on pieces of paper and sealed. People select one of these papers and then read aloud what is said about them.8

Christmas is another of the familiar holidays celebrated. In medieval times, this holiday was celebrated for twelve days. A Yule log was an important item to obtain for this holiday. It had to be large enough that it would burn for all twelve days. Wassailing is one of the activities done during this time. People sing and carry a box containing Mary and Jesus around to collect gifts. Later the gifts are given to the poor.

5. Rowling, Marjorie. Life in Medieval Times. New York, NY: The Putnum Publishing Group, 1968

When one thinks of entertainment during medieval times, they most likely will envision jousting tournaments with knights on horseback. This is a popular form of recreation, but it isn't something the lower classes or middle classes attend regularly. There are, however, several games and many holidays that every class can enjoy. Many of the holidays celebrated by people in the middle ages are still celebrated today. Others aren't even heard of by most people today. Of the ones that are celebrated today, they are celebrated in different ways in medieval Europe and some even have different names. One game played by medieval people is called hot cockles. In this game, one person is blindfolded while others take turn trying to knock them over until the blindfolded person can identify the one who is hitting them. This game may not sound appealing to modern day people, but there is another game called ragman's roll that is not as abusive. In this game, character traits!

trenchers, are used. Hollowed out pieces of round bread are also used as bowls. Each person also has several knives, each knife used for different foods. A spoon is placed between two trenchers. There are no forks. Between two trenchers, there is also a two-handled bowl filled with soup or stew. This is shared by the two people, as are a cup and the spoon.

One holiday that is familiar to modern day people is Valentine's Day. This was celebrated by everyone wearing a symbol of love. A lover's heart, which is two circles side by side, is a popular one to be worn. At dinner, an extra trenchers are added and intended to be shared by lovers. Special heart-shaped cakes are served for dessert. After supper there are special Valentine's games that are played. One is to pass around sprigs. If you receive a healthy one, you will find true love. If you get an unhealthy one, you will never find true love.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle Ages, Midsummer Eve, Valentine's Day, Mary Jesus, Fool's Day, Ash Easter, , middle ages, Day Day, medieval times, Jovanovich Publishers, Online Available, people receive, medieval europe, game played, april fool's day, hair middle, life medieval, twelve days, apple game, popular fabrics, wear middle ages, modern day people,
Approximate Word count = 2480
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)