REVIEW - THE ALEWIVES - Cheers m'dears!

The Alewives by Elizabeth R Andersen

Date read: 13th May 2025

My rating: 5*
Genre I reckon: Historical Women in Fiction

Buy link: Amazon  

 

What a fab book! I have to admit I thought the main focus was going to be on the murder mystery, but was pleasantly surprised to discover it's more about the camaraderie between three women.

The book is set in Colmar, Alsace in the year 1353.

I love these women. Grumpy Gritta with her menagerie of offspring is a grounding force not to be reckoned with. Appel who has dubious ways of making money is wise. And pretty Efi who strives to find herself after her loss. The three women are just wonderful together - perfectly imperfect. And so incredibly strong - they must face the ire of jealous men who would deem it unlawful for them to run a business. Well, they survived The Great Pestilence - they're made of stern stuff!

As someone who's written a tale of medieval monks, I was super excited to read Friar Wikerus - an intriguing figure indeed. 

This book is incredibly well researched. We get to explore the smelly tanneries district, meet the poor folk who dwell in that area AND investigate a murder (or two) and thievery. The brewing techniques are detailed in all their glory. And I felt like I was there, strolling around, poking my nose into the folk's houses. The tone was kept light with wry humour. Amazing! 

If you like historical fiction and cosy mysteries, this book is right up your...Trench Lane!

Trouble is brewing!

Always in love and light,

TL

RESEARCH - Medieval England - Post 16: Fashion

 Fashion

Phew, this could be a massive post. But I shall try to keep it concise.

I once heard it said on a history programme (sorry, I can't remember which), that there is a change of fashion along with a change of monarch. On the whole, this seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb. 

Now, the medieval era, as repeatedly stated, covers a very long time (500-1485). There were seven changes of king between 1422-1485 alone (although some were repeated)! And yes, this is applicable to both men and women.

Can I get the obvious out of the way? The main difference between rich and poor at this time was not in the style, but more the quality of material. 

Let us glimpse at Sumptuary Laws. Edward III, in the 14th century, seems to have been the first English monarch to impose such restrictions on what one was permitted to wear. His statute denied anyone under the rank of knight from wearing fur. And also forbade the import of textiles from outside of the British isle and the export of wool. Some surmise this was to put a cap on the cost of household liveries. 

In 1363, part of the laws determined that knights (and their families) with land worth 400 marks annually may wear whatever they wish, with the exclusion of weasel and ermine furs, or clothing of precious stones (except those worn in ladies' hair).

However, knights (and their families) with land worth 200 marks may not wear fabric over the worth of £4 in total. No cloth of gold, nor a cloak, mantle or gown lined with pure miniver, sleeves of ermine or any material embroidered with precious stones; women may not wear ermine or weasel-fur, or jewels except those worn in their hair.

In 1463, a further Act introduced by Edward IV, placed further clothing restrictions, determined by social class. 

Knights below the rank of lord were prohibited from wearing any cloth of gold, anything wrought with gold or sable fur, and no velvet upon velvet. Their wives and children must follow these rules as well, any person in this category caught with prohibited items will forfeit 20 marks to the King for each and every offense.    

People with an income of less than 40s per annum were not permitted to wear any item prohibited in the higher classes or fustian, bustian, any scarlet cloth (purple or red), nor any fur except black or white lamb. A fine of 40s would be issued to any disobeying this. 

A slightly more amusing section of this one was the legislation against the wearing of long-toed shoes. They had become longer than the entire length of the foot! This just sounds like a trip hazard to me, but they you have it. Those less than a lord were restricted to a 2 inch pike on their shoes or boots.

In 1483, they took this even further still. All persons in England except for the royal family were forbidden to wear gold or purple silk. Persons below the level of duke were not permitted to wear cloth of gold or tissue, and no one below a lord could wear plain cloth of gold. 

Servants of husbandry/peasants were not allowed to wear any material which cost more than 2s for the broad yard.

Eurgh! 

These were all fairly hard to enforce. People will always wear what they want, punishment be damned.

Whilst I'm discussing shoes, these beauties are patten shoes - worn over the top of other shoes so as to better avoid the deep mud and err... excrement in the roads.

From bottom to top...headwear

 

The conical hennin (pictured) is perhaps the most commonly associated with the medieval period, thanks to movie princesses. However, they really only emerged from around 1430, according to some sources.

However, from around 1250-1500, the escoffion was en vogue. A thick, circular woollen/felt/silk band was rolled and worn in a horn shape. Gauze or silk could then be draped over. This is also of the hennin family of headwear. 

Beehive (shorter, squatter) and butterfly hennins (wider, split horns) also had their time.

I rather like the crespine; fine netting worn either side of the head attached to a circlet (like the bottom left of the above image).

Whatever style of headwear a woman chose, whether rich or poor, one should always cover their hair. This was a pious, religious stipulation. In fact, in 1162, prostitutes were forbidden from wearing a veil lest they should be mistaken for someone with virtue!

As the Middle Ages continued, the hairlines grew higher. Ladies were known to pluck their hairline and wear their hats further back. 

From the 13th to 15th centuries, women wore wimples (or gorgets). This should be worn over the chin. Unlike today's nuns who generally wear it under.

The coif was worn by men and women. A simple, linen bonnet/cap, usually tied under the chin. The rich tended to only wear these as nightcaps. The poor would keep it as daywear under other headwear.

Oddly, ladies' gowns/dresses didn't undergo much of a change. It was more their headwear. There was usually a kirtle worn over a chemise. An overgown was then worn over these.

Colours could hold significance though. I may have used this symbology in my book 😉

Blue - fidelity (& represents the Virgin Mary)

Green - love

Grey - sorrow

Red (crimson) - privilege/power/blood of Christ

Yellow - hostility (but also certain saints days)

Men's clothing saw more variations. From short to long houppelanades. And who can ever unsee those hose, boys? With shorter styles, no wonder the codpiece was worn, otherwise one's family jewels would be on display! 

Knickers! Historians are very excited - the above items have been found and dated to around the 15th century. 

And that seems like a delightful note to end this series of research posts on! 😊

I hope you've found all this info useful. 

It's at least a starting point to show what you may want to delve into.

In some ways, the Middle Ages were very different from our modern world. But surprisingly, in many ways, not that much has changed at the same time. I guess humans will always been humans. 

Always in love and light,

TL

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My book, Love in the Roses is available for pre-order (click here).

To protect her family, she must marry the enemy!

The fictitious tale of a knight’s daughter, living life as it very well may have been in 1484.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

RESEARCH - Medieval England - Post 14: Feminine Hygiene, Fertility and Childbirth

WARNING: This post contains graphic descriptions. It also covers infertility and mortality.

Menstruation

So, I discussed in my previous post about medicine, how ladies used blood (shpagnum) moss to soak up their menstrual blood. This was quite probably stuffed into linen as a rudimentary sanitary towel. The moss was sometimes also used as toilet paper, by the way.

Of course, all sorts of other words were used for their periods, such as courses, menstra, termes and women's sickness. But, whatever they called it, women have always had to cope with their menstrual cycles. 

Due to lack of nutrition, however, they may not have been monthly. They began around twelve years of age, and were an indication a young lady was ready to start producing children, and therefore could be wed. This is why it wasn't uncommon to see girls of fourteen get married (*shudders*). 

Sadly, it was seen as a punishment from God, especially as nuns did not menstruate (allegedly). Again, I point out the lack of nutrition; nuns and very devout ladies would not have eaten much. But, y'know, let's not dwell!

Isabel in my book, Love in the Roses, challenges her husband to have his wicked way with her during her flow, but not to blame her if she then bore a deformed child. Yes, this was a belief! It was also why some children were born with red hair, obviously!? 

Menstruating women may curdle the milk, so were kept away from activities such as cheese making. 

And, as their excretions were so toxic, they were sometimes encouraged to roam around cornfields with their skirts pulled up, so they could act as an insect repellent! Words fail me. 

Despite the common opinion that this bleeding/suffering was served to women from God and they should shut up and put up... there were herbal remedies to aid the pain. Lady's Mantle, parsley, thyme and woodruff were all used - because women help women. 

Birth Control

 

It stands to reason that not every woman wished to become pregnant. Childbirth was incredibly dangerous; over one in three women died in their child bearing years! Plus, prostitutes have existed since the dawn of man, so they probably didn't want to become heavy with child either. And I hear tell some nuns were actually quite naughty - probably a good idea not to get pregnant in their case; the scandal!

But, interfering with the will of God was, of course, sinful.

There was a papal bull against witchcraft which accused them of having, "slain infants yet in the womb" and "hindering men from performing the sexual act and women from conceiving". So, we know it happened. And as it was witches who were targeted, herbs were probably involved. 

Infertility

But what if you had the opposite problem? Unusually, infertility was not always regarded as a woman's problem. 

Naturally, one would be encouraged to pray. After all, you must have displeased God if he isn't allowing you to procreate. St Anne was patron saint for this. Or, one could make pilgrimage to St. Thomas Cantelupe's shrine in Hereford. 

Weight of both parties was taken into consideration, according to the 12th century gynaecological text, The Trotula. If one was overweight, you could try sweating out the fat in a hot bath. 

Of course, looking at urine was part of diagnosis too. Mix each person's wee with some wheat bran in a pot, and whoever's was smelliest and/or most ridden with worms after nine days was the one with the issue - eww! If no worms were present, then the couple should be blessed with a child in God's own time.  

Onions and parsnips were amongst foods encouraged for the man to help produce his seed. 

Talking of seed, the medieval folk believed both men and women produced seed to produce offspring. So, in order to conceive, the lady had to orgasm - hoorah!

I must say, I did cheer hearing that. Until I learned that this was then used against women too - of course it was (*eyeroll, smacks head*)! If a woman was taken against her wishes and became pregnant it was therefore decided she must have enjoyed it so could not be considered rape (*angry screaming*). 

Anyway, again, herbs and foods were recommended for altering the temperature of the woman's body so she could conceive. 

To help protect against miscarriage, The Trotula suggests:

"Take oil, wax, powder of frankincence, and mastic, and mix them, and let the woman be annointed front and back two or three times a week. This very much strengthens the womb and the cotyledons."

Pregnancy

So, how did you know if you were pregnant? 

Well, with irregular periods (usually among the poor), it could be quite tricky to tell. A woman may not know until she began to show or felt the "quickening" of the baby's first moves. 

And, there was also the possibility of morning sickness.

However, wise women knew the secrets of urine - it is such an important bodily fluid! 

Simply pop a needle into your bowl of wee and see if it rusts. 

The medical folk also looked at pee. Pale to white in colour with a cloudy surface indicated pregnancy. 

Want to know if you're expecting a boy? Place a drop of milk from the mother's breast into water; if it sinks, it's a boy. If it floats, it's a girl.

Cravings

Texts by the Ancient Greek physician, Galen were still referred to. He noted that in the first three months of pregnancy, mothers may suffer from the incredibly bad humor, citta.  This caused them to crave sour and bitter things, or even shells and extinguished coals. 

To stem that, he recommended the occasional day of fasting - oh, sweet mercy! Or, many small meals preceded by water (because that was healthy!?) followed by wine (can you imagine?). Food should be dry and astringent. 

Walks and fragrant but not too sweet white wine were recommended. 

Childbirth

Now, if you were poor, you'd work right up to the moment of labour, in all likelihood. So, let us look at the wealthy. 

Ah, the lying in. 

Before confining oneself to the bedchamber, a woman would attend church for a special blessing. 

Only widows owned property, but some women were still permitted to make their last will & testament before the big event. 

So, all household and spiritual matters seen to, the expectant mother would retire to her chamber, four to six weeks before the baby was due. Only women allowed beyond this point! 

The midwife, a woman, would enter the chamber. Mayhap, the good mother had female friends or relatives who would also be in attendance. 

{ The room was darkened; the curtains drawn

{ Tapestries with relaxing scenes depicted were hung

{ Fires were lit - the warmer the better

{ Herbs were set asmoke and wafted around

{ Crucifixes and religious icons would be strewn about

~ in short, the room was set to recreate the dark, warm, quiet womb

The women would then spend time in quiet contemplation and doing everything they could to promote calm. The book of hours would be read frequently and muchly praying would be conducted. 

Food would be controlled. Nothing too salty or containing rue or parsley. Small dishes of chicken, blackbird, mutton or partridge were advisable. 

Wine should be cut with water or balsam.

Daily hot baths were recommended. The hot water should be steeped with mallows, violets, linseed, fenugreek, chamomile and barley. 

The mother's thighs and genitals would be anointed daily with oil of camomile, chicken fat, foam from the top of butter and unguentum dialthaea (an ointment made from marsh mallow roots).  

Walking was seen as beneficial exercise, perhaps up and down the stairs.

Argh, we reach labour itself!

Warm water which dates had been cooked in was seen as an energy fortifying drink. 

Again, with the oil and fat anointing! And/or apply a poultice.

Wearing coral around the neck was supposed to help ease pain. And she could clutch gemstones (such as jasper which would also help afterwards) or a magnet. Eaglestone may be tied to her thigh.

The woman should be encouraged to walk about as labour pains kick in. 

And time to pray extra hard!

In lieu of gas & air, the mother could clutch a holy relic or talisman. 

A birthing girdle may be placed upon her abdomen; a long, parchment (or hart's skin) scroll with saints such as The Virgin Mary, St Margaret or Julitta & Quiricus depicted. 

The birthing stool was a popular aid in childbirth all the way through to around 1800. Funnily enough, men became midwives at that time too (*grumbly noises* Don't know what's best *mumbles*).

Imagine a horseshoe-shaped stool, The woman could squat down upon this and let gravity come to her rescue. 

These stools could be treasured family heirlooms! 

Another woman could sit behind and cradle the poor mother. Isn't that nice?

The use of birthing stools shortens the birth canal and increases pelvic diameter. Doesn't that sound like a good idea? 

If the baby was round the wrong way, the midwife may oil her hands and, y'know, reach in. 

Caesareans were a known thing. However, this was a last resort measure as it was highly likely neither mother or baby would survive the procedure. Basically, the mother was either dead or dying before they'd try.

The midwife was permitted to baptize the baby, incidentally. But only if the baby was sickly - a quick blessing before it died was necessary so its soul could still reach heaven. This blog post is terribly morbid; I do apologise.

However, once the baby is out (hopefully without intervention), then the umbilical cord needed to be dealt with. It could be cut and powdered dragon's blood (plant resin) put on. Or, tie it off with twisted wool. 

After it has dropped off, the umbilical cord was often thrown onto the fire in the room - this was a way of purifying the sinful origins of conception! 

Herbs were lit and wafter under the mother's nose. This would cause her to sneeze, but her nose would be pinched. Therefore, the pressure would be sent downwards so she could expel the afterbirth.

More from The Trotula:

For pain of the vagina after birth, take rue, mugwort, and camphor, grind them well and, having prepared them with musk oil or pennyroyal oil and warmed them in a pot, wrap them in a cloth and insert as a suppository.

A needle and thread could have come in handy too. Oh, this is all making me wince without any anaesthetic! But, there is more medical advice:

For rupture of the lower parts after birth, take root of comfrey, dry it and then pulverise it well, and put with fine powder of cumin and also cinnamon in the vagina, and it will be solidified.

And if that sneeze didn't expel the afterbirth...

For birth of the womb and for bringing out the afterbirth. Take root of parsley, leaves of leek, and borage, and extract the juice, and mix in a little oil, and give to the patient to drink, and put vinegar into the vagina, and she will be freed.

Pennyroyal was also a good herb for such expulsions.

That coral amulet hung about the mother's neck during childbirth? A similar one could now be placed upon the infant for protection. Either that or amber. 

Mother and baby would be bathed. Injuries seen to. The baby encouraged to urinate by squeezing on its bladder. 

Then the baby needed to be swaddled. Their bones were seen as weak and not fully formed, so swaddling helped keep them in shape until the grew stronger. This would be done at least until the child could sit up on its own or it reached the age of one.

The mother may have been given some caudle. This is a dish of egg yolks, ale/wine, sugar and saffron (recipes vary). A basic dish accessible to all and seen as a restorative.

And hopefully, both were healthy and would be able to have a bit of a sleep. I think they'd earned it!

But this was not the end. Oh no. Mother and baby would be kept in confinement for another four to six weeks, whilst both gained their strength and healed. 

Breast Feeding

The mother could put a bit of honey on her breast to encourage the baby to suckle - aww. Baby should be fed three times per day. And the mother would learn when to unswaddle so her child could relieve itself. She'd then wrap it back up, snug as a bug in a rug. 

Wet nurses could be used, but it was deemed best for the mother to perform this duty if she could. The Church deemed that if it was good enough for The Virgin Mary, any mother should do so.

Breast feeding was encouraged until around the age of two. 

Gnawing on roots of liqorice or gladioli could help when teething pains kicked in. 

Baptism was essential for newborns. It could not wait until the mother was out of her confinement. So, the father (or appointed other if he were not present) would take the baby to church, along with the appointed godparents.

At the church door, prayers would be issued, whilst the priest made the sign of the cross three times.

The godparents would then recite Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary and Creed, in Latin.

Then, the baby was taken inside to the font. Holy oil was added to the water therein, and more prayers were recited. The godparents renounced Satan and pledged their faith. 

The baby was anointed with holy oil and then baptised with three immersions in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The baby's forehead was then anointed with sacred chrism (holy oil) and a white chrisom cloth was bound round it as a symbol of the cleansing of its sins, and was kept in place for the following week.  Finally, the child was dressed in a white chrisom robe, which, if the child died within a month, was used as a shroud.  The child was given a blessed, lighted candle, which therefore had the power when lit, to banish the Devil.

Churching

This chrisom cloth was then given to the mother for her Churching. 

Yes, at the end of her confinement, the mum would go to church for her blessing.

Again, she was met at the church door by the priest who carried holy water and candles. 

The mother would have worn a veil and may have held a burning candle. She would issue forth said chrisom and any other offerings.

The priest said a prayer of thanksgiving and asked for eternal life for the mother. Two Psalms were then read. And then the mother may have been sprinkled with holy water before being led into the church with a prayer of access.

A special Mass would then be conducted, with the mother offering thanks for the safe delivery of her child. She would also receive Communion.

She was then able to resume daily activities, cleansed of all that sin of conception! 

At the end of all that, one presumably continued to pray that your child continued strong and healthy. 

Around 30% of children died before the age of five. Yikes!

But if they survived until the age of twenty, they were likely to be OK until around fifty. Hoorah!

At the age of seven, presumably when parents relaxed a little bit, boys may be sent of for training, either ecclesiastical/scholar or as a knight. Girls may well have been sent to another household to learn the ways of management of such. 

And then they'd be married off. And the cycle begins anew! 

OK, that'll do. This is a really long post but I wanted to cover all these aspects in one go. 

Always in love and light,

TL

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My book, Love in the Roses is available for pre-order (click here).

To protect her family, she must marry the enemy!

The fictitious tale of a knight’s daughter, living life as it very well may have been in 1484.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

RESEARCH - Medieval England - Post 13: Disease, Pestilence (plague) and Medicine

So, The Black Death or Bubonic Plague had been and gone by the 15th century. It occurred, as previously stated, 1348-9 and 1361-2. But the affects were still being felt from the reduced population. I know I'm harping on about that, but it's important. 

Yay, the disease was over. Sadly, there were other plagues. I refer you back to the deadly list.

In 1485, at the start of the Tudors, there was a rather nasty Sweating Sickness aka English Sweat. It claimed thousands of lives in the 15th and 16th centuries. Part of the horror was its rapid killing power. There's a whole article on it here.

Medical thinking at the time sought to temper the four humors of the body:

{  1 Sanguine (Blood)

{  2 Choleric (Yellow Bile)

{  3 Melancholic (Black Bile)

{  4 Phlegmatic (Phlegm)

These were represented by the four elements, and manifested in the body as hot, cold, dry and moist. 

These could be interrupted by, yes, disease, but also demons, gods, witchcraft and astronomical events.

Wise women had known for centuries of the healing properties of plants. And even monks, who administered medical remedies as charity, grew physik/physic gardens. They grew herbs such as:

{  Dandelion     

{  Elecampane     

{  English Lavender     

{  Lovage     

{  Mallow         

{  Myrtle             

{  Pennyroyal               

{  Sage                         

{  St. John’s Wort                         

{  Thyme                      

{  Vervain           

{  Yarrow

Sadly, some of the plants were, in fact, toxic, so hindered rather than cured.

From the 12th century, schools of surgery were introduced. These were more medically trained than the barber surgeons who performed things such as bloodletting, tooth-pulling and wound-stitching. 

The medical surgeon was instructed on air, diet, exercise and drugs. The wise ones treated the wounds with vinegar or alcohol. But, they were fairly rare, as they were held liable for any fatality which resulted. And there were quite a few mishaps without antibiotics etc. 

However, these surgeons performed rapid amputations for those injured in battle - the quicker the better for the patient, to stop the loss of blood. And they made a rudimentary cast for broken limbs too. 

Bloodletting was performed in cases of fever, as clearly there was too much blood (heat) in the body!? Sweating was a way of ridding the body of excess fluid - fires, piles of blankets, hot cloths...all could be applied to encourage sweat.

Inducing vomiting or issuing a laxative were also deemed fine ways of ridding the body of those nasty excess humors.

Wine was seen as a restorative, so it wasn't all bad 😉

Along with physical treatments, prayer and penance were prescribed remedies, y'know, in case God was punishing the patient. 

You could always try to treat minor ailments and diseases yourself. Which, let's face it, you'd try. 

For this, you would need a store of: willow bark, honey, cobwebs, moss and live snails. 

Willowbark was a painkiller and may even have helped reduce inflammation. Worth giving it a chew, especially if you had a fever or headache! 😉

Honey was readily available. Its stickiness helped bind wounds whilst stopping them from drying out. Turns out, it has antimicrobial properties too, so not as silly as it first sounds. 

Now, cobwebs are astonishing. I sniffed at the thought, because eww! But, if it was clean, then the sticky web may have actually helped wounds. They would bind them together, and contain antiseptic and antifungal properties. The vitamin K in them may help blood clotting too - well, I never! 

Isabel in my book has recourse to use blood moss. This is used to soak up her menstrual flow. This actually happened! It's technical term is sphagnum moss, and was used for that and to mop up blood from wounds. 

Snails would be used to treat minor cuts and burns. It's been discovered that their slime does indeed contain antiseptic, anaesthetic, antibiotic, antiviral properties, along with collagen and elastin. So good is this icky substance, that it's now being put back into cosmetics. 

So there you have it, some helpful and not-so-helpful remedies.

Incidentally, the number of fatalities after medical intervention are in similar proportions today, just before you dismiss it all! 😲

Always in love and light,

TL

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My book, Love in the Roses is available for pre-order (click here).

 

To protect her family, she must marry the enemy!

The fictitious tale of a knight’s daughter, living life as it very well may have been in 1484.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

RESEARCH - Medieval England - Post 12: Kinghts, Armour, Weaponry & Wars of the Roses

Think of the Middle Ages, and you may well imagine grand displays of knights jousting in tournaments. However, it rather depends on which section of this long era you look at. 

Hm, this gets a bit complicated. And I'm going to state I'm not a weapons expert. This post aims to cover the basics.

So, knights first appeared around the 8th century, according to popular opinion. However, the Code of Chivalry, although maybe around in rudimentary forms even in Ancient Britain, was developed in the 11th-12th centuries. This was the code brought in to bring a sense of order to, let's face it, what had become thugs. To temper the fierce warrior with acts of valour - to bring a balance to the force, if you will 😉

With this aim, they were taught things such as poetry; composing and performing. He was also instructed in good manners, including those whilst at table. 

Chivalry is derived from the French word 'chavalier', and basically means 'one who rides and fights on a horse'. 

Point of interest; between 1358-1488, there were 68 women appointed knights in England's Order of the Garter.

I discussed previously, how feudalism was in decline. The severely reduced population needed farmers to grow food. But our lands also needed to be defended. Mercenaries were recruited in greater numbers - bought/hired soldiers as opposed to dedicated knights, brought up by nobles. Yes, these mercenaries were viewed as having dodgy allegiances, and could not be entirely relied upon. 

When Henry VII returned to England to fight the Battle of Bosworth, he landed with 5,000 - 8,000 men. It's estimated that 1,800 of these were French mercenaries and formed the core of his army. Others were exiles. He then gathered recruits from the Welsh/English borders, including deserters from Richard III's army. 

Add to all this, the sheer cost of knights. 

The price of the armour alone was high. 

One account says you could get really "cheap", probably ill-fitting armour for up to (the equivalent of) $30,000 (£22k). But, in the 15th century, a full suit of plate armour was more in the region of $500,00 - $3.5million. So, let's say, about £1million!! 

HOWEVER, I'm going to add some confusion here. A knight's full armour is often quoted at around £16 in medieval money, which works out to be approx. £11,000. The Milanese, ready-made set may be around £8 (£5,500 in today's money).

I don't know why there are such wide variances in these estimations. The £11k region sounds much more realistic, given their status and income, though.

So, knights were very wealthy. And their fathers were probably knights too.

Apparently, Richard III's armour

The cost of training was also high. It took many years. Let's look at the stages:

{  Page = aged 7-10 up until 13 (horses, hunting, mock weapons)

{  Squire = 14 to 18-21 (assistant to knight, weapons and armour, education, chivalry)

{  Dubbing = 18-21 (made a knight)

{  Service = from then on (guard for baron, fight in wars, tournaments)

If you want full details on the training of knights, go to this website here.

Weapons

The sword is probably the most associated weapon of the knight. There was the long sword, about 60cm long, for slashing. 

The second option was a falchion, a single-edged sword which came to a point. It was light and shorter but with the power of an axe, ideal for close combat. Powerful blows could be dealt as well as effective slashing. However, the longer sword would deal the most powerful blows.

A dagger would also be worn, their last resort choice.

All that posturing at jousting tournaments wasn't just to get laid! The lance was used from horseback in battle too. 

Plate armour posed a problem - it was tough to get through (hence the cost!). So, weapons advanced to counteract that. The pollaxe/poleaxe was used for this purpose, whilst on foot. 

Spiked, flail weapons could be used whilst on foot too, but they were difficult to aim effectively with.

The mace was also a close combat option. A club-type, blunt weapon with a flange or knob on the end to pierce armour. 

Then we have the other soldiers.

The longbow rose to prominence in the 13th century. About this time, laws were introduced in England, requiring every person to practice archery. Basically, the king wanted to be able to call upon anyone to go shoot his enemies. To be fair, it worked, as Henry V arguably won the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 on the strength of his bowmen.

It was cheaper to use archers. But the men-at-arms and knights were very useful in protecting those archers. Incidentally, some archers were also wealthy and wore good armour. 

Wars of the Roses (Key Battles)

{  The Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455) 

       - a Yorkist victory, and Richard, Duke of York was declared Protector (later overturned)

{  The Battle of Northampton (10 July 1460)

       - another Yorkist victory, and Henry VI was captured. The queen fled to Wales.

{  The Battle of Wakefield (30 December 1460)

    - a Lancastrian victory. Richard, Duke of York killed. Succeeded by Edward, his son.

{  The Battle of Towton (29 March 1461)

    - the Earl of Warwick led the Yorkists to victory; King Henry, Queen Margaret and the Prince of Wales flee to Scotland.

{  The Battle of Tewkesbury (4 May 1471)

    - the Yorkists are victorious. Prince of Wales killed and the queen captured.

{  The Battle of Bosworth Field (22 August 1485)

    - King Richard III killed. Henry VII crowned

{  The Battle of Stoke Field (16 June 1487)

    - Yorkist commanders killed. Tudor reign stabilised.

Above, I've listed the key battles of the Cousins War (Wars of the Roses). It's interesting as the battles were relatively few and far between. But much happened in between too. There were princes placed into custody and subsequently went missing. Kings & queens were captured, moanrchs fled, others came back to fight. Oh, such turmoil!

I'm a lover, not a fighter! 

Um, so there were ceremonies which were incredibly similar to marriage, where two men may commit themselves to one another. In theory, this was to ensure a bonding of brotherhood, particularly those about to go off and fight. But, come on, this was gay marriage! 

I've not got a specific post on sex, so I'll just drop in here... yes sodomy was highly punishable; you'd end up killed if anyone found out and snitched. However, just looking at the plethora of images within manuscripts and paintings from the time, there was plenty of male/male loving happening. I suspect female/female too, but it was the men doing the painting, so... (*shrugs*).

Let's leave that there. 

Really, I just wanted to point out the the numbers of knights were dwindling. 

Always in love and light,

TL

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My book, Love in the Roses is available for pre-order (click here).

To protect her family, she must marry the enemy!

The fictitious tale of a knight’s daughter, living life as it very well may have been in 1484.

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