Middle Ages Marvels: 21  30 Fascinating Facts About the Middle Ages !

Ready to get excited about History?  The marvels of the Medieval era will shock and amaze you!

If you’ve been following along with our FREE History Curriculum series, I think you’ll love the fifth part of the 21 Fascinating Facts series!
If you need a little boost to get everyone excited about ancient history this year, try these Middle Ages fascinating facts history teasers to start your studies each day!
This quick guide was specifically made to use along with each day’s lesson in the FREE Middle Ages Curriculum  (or if you aren’t studying the middle ages this year,  just to read for FUN!).

Little bites of information seem to be the things we remember.  Maybe it’s because it sparks our interest and makes us hungry for more.  That is why I wanted to write this series of posts.  Start each lesson with one of these amazing facts and get EXCITED about learning this year!

You can find the other posts in this series below-
21 Fascinating Facts About Ancient Civilizations 
21 Fascinating Facts About Ancient Egypt
21 Fascinating Facts About Ancient Greece
21 Fascinating Facts About Ancient Rome

If you’d like these 21 Fascinating Facts history starters in a quick print PDF format to use with the FREE Ancient History Curriculum (or your own ancient history curriculum!), you can find them by visiting the Ancient History section in Fields of Daisies Book Store.

  21 Fascinating Facts About the Middle Ages Printable PDF Version

Week 1:  Dark Days, Vandalism, and Frank

Day 1- Middle Ages, Medieval Ages, and…Who turned out the lights?

Why does this time in history have so many names ?!?!
What IS the correct name- the Middle Ages?  The Medieval Ages? Or the Dark Ages?

Fascinating Fact #1:  All of the above.  It’s all the same period of time more or less.
Wait.  You’re not impressed?
Ok.  Let’s try this.
The “Dark Ages” most often refer to the earliest part of the Middle Ages/Medieval times from about 500-1,000 AD.
With all of the upheaval and chaos created by the fall of the Roman Empire, much of the literature, art, etc… of that period was lost.  This is why historians sometimes refer to this time as the Dark Ages.

Still not impressed?
What if I told you it REALLY WAS DARKER in the dark ages?
Scientists now know that there were not one, but two GIGANTIC volcanic eruptions during this time that may have been the largest ever recorded!  The sun would have been blocked out by all the ash in the sky… the weather was much colder without the sun… crops wouldn’t have grown in the acidic soil… poverty would have replaced prosperity.  Times would have indeed been DARK !

What do you think?
Want to know more about the real Dark Dark Ages?  Check it out -> HERE
If you want to read a bit more about the difference between The Middle Ages, Medieval Times, and the Dark Ages, you can check out these facts from Ducksters- HERE

Day 2-  Was Rome vandalized?  Naked?

Maybe you’ve read about the fall of Rome in our lessons this week… or maybe not.  However, you probably do know that Rome was ransacked (and ultimately toppled) numerous times by groups of “barbarians”, such as the Goths, the Huns, and the one we’ll learn about today, the Vandals.  Can you think of a word we commonly use in English that is similar to “Vandals”?
Of course.  The word is vandalism!  And vandalize they did!
This group was so brutal in it’s destruction that a word was made up from their name!
Merriam Webster defines vandalism as the “willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property”.

While it is true that the Vandals willfully and maliciously destroyed a whole lot of property, did you know that these fearsome soldiers who brought down the powerful Roman Empire often used less than scary tactics on their adversaries?
One historian accounts a battle in which they attacked at full force, STARK NAKED!   If that wouldn’t shock the offense into stepping back, I don’t know what would!  To be fair, there are some who believe that when the historians recounted this spectacle, they were merely speaking of the fact that the barbarians entered into battle without all the standard armor and protection of the stately Roman soldiers, thus they were “naked”.
What do YOU think?

Want to learn more?
You can read more about the Vandals HERE !
And if you want to know more about the weapons the Vandals and other barbaric tribes used, you can read more HERE !

Day 3- Who’s Frank?

If you are following along with the Free Middle Ages History lessons, today’s lesson was all about the Franks.
Frank who you ask?   Oh, THE Franks!
We know that this group of people are not named after a leader named Frank, but most likely called this name by the Romans after the javelin type weapons (frakka) they used in battle.  The Franks are the people of what would later settle and become France!  Famous Franks included Clovis, Clotilda, and Charlemagne this week.

Also… Pepin the Short, Louis the Pious, Charles the Bald, and get this… Are you ready?
BIGFOOT BERTHA!

I’m not even joking!  Big Foot Bertha was King Charlemagne’s mom.  And that was her REAL NAME!
Believe it or not, it wasn’t an insulting name.  Just a description of sorts.  And that is how most people were known during this period of history.   People didn’t have last names.  You were just Alex.  Or Emily.  Or Grace.  Occasionally, if there was something interesting or particularly descriptive about you, people would attach another name.  So if you had a lot of hair, you might be Alex Hairy… or if you were a baker, Emily Baker.
What would your Middle Ages last name be?
Did you know that many of the surnames (last names) we have today began as a description of what our ancestors did for a living centuries ago?  

Want to know more?

Click this link for a good summary about the Franks.
And here is a little more about Charlemagne’s mom, Bigfoot Bertha and other interesting family names!

Week 2:  King Karl, Cotters, and Crazy Court!

Day 1- King Karl, aka Charlemagne- The First Renaissance Man

As mentioned in Day 3 last week, the folks in the Middle Ages must have had a sense of humor with names.
We read about Pepin the Short, Charles the Fat, and of course, the famous Bigfoot Bertha.  Today’s fascinating fact is about Bigfoot Bertha’s son, the great-grandson of Charles the Hammer (another whole story entirely!).
And maybe because there were SO MANY Charleses, they had to have some serious distinctions!!
So the Charles we’re talking about here is Charles the Great, aka King Karl, aka Charlemagne!
Let’s just call him that to save confusion!  PHEW!

So Charlemagne, which really just means ‘Charles the Great’, was a pretty great leader indeed!
He was king of the new Frankish Empire (remember the Franks in week 1?!), which by now included France, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Germany, and some of Spain.  Charlemagne led many battles, always putting himself in the front of his soldiers, and he ruled with a humility and fairness not usually found during this time.  He was beloved by almost everyone in the land.  One reason the common people loved him so much was that Charlemagne was very interested in education.  He built centers for people to learn to read and write in many parts of his empire.  He also had as many ancient manuscripts as he could find copied into bound books-  this would become known as illumination!

What do we use the word “illumination” to mean today?  Think light bulbs!

Could this have been the beginning of the end of the  “Dark Ages” ?

The illuminated manuscripts weren’t just quickly scrawled copies of letters, they were beautiful with gold foiled letters and painted pages.  Charlemagne wasn’t just a fan of learning to write, he was also very fond of art and music!
Historians agree that Charlemagne absolutely loved the Gregorian chants that he heard in the Roman churches, and was fascinated by them, so much so, that he introduced them to his people and instructed them to learn them as well.  Many schools of music were set up under Charlemagne’s reign, marking the very first glimpses of what we will later call the Renaissance !

Want to find out more?

Read more about Charlemagne here

OR watch this!  You might be singing it alllll day long!      😀

Day 2- Villeins, cotters, and bordars … oh my!

The Middle Ages was known for putting people into social groups based upon the family they were born into most of the time.  There were kings, monarchs, nobles, knights, and peasants… we know those were the main classes of people during this time.   But do you know who the villeins, cotters, and bordars were?
These were the folks who were known as serfs… they were below the status of a peasant.  We might think of them as slaves. They were too poor to pay their taxes and were therefore made to work under grueling conditions and at the mercy of even the peasants.  They were the beaten down, the tired, the unclean, and the hopeless.  They often had less rights than animals!  (see tomorrow’s fascinating fact!!!)

Maybe you’ve never even heard of these words (I hadn’t!), but we use one of them at least in our English language all the time! Remember how the English word ‘vandals’ or ‘vandalize’ came from the people called the Vandals?  Our language is based mostly on all of these old Germanic languages we’ve been reading about.  Many times however, we don’t realize where our words come from, or how they get their meanings!

Can you guess which word from today’s title that we use still today?
Here are a few clues…  Cruella De Vil, The Joker, Captain Hook, Darth Vader, and Ursula   

You guessed it!
The word is ‘villain’.   Dictionary.com defines this word as “a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.”  Life for the villeins, cotters, and bordars, was hard.  They truly may have stolen food from the fields they labored in, or scraps of materials from the shops they worked in.  They were surely dirty and not pleasant in appearance. But sheesh!  Might not be a fair leap to make that word mean a malicious scoundrel!

Do you think that the villeins of the Middle Ages sound like today’s villains?
Can you think of any other words you’ve read this week that have been added to our English vocabulary from words used during the Middle Ages?

Want to know some more words and phrases from the Middle Ages that are still popular today?
-> 10 Phrases That Originated in the Middle Ages
*note-  I beg to differ on #1.  It was written long before then- see Deuteronomy 32:10 or Psalm 17:8

Day 3- Medieval Animals in court

Mischievous mice, lazy locusts, and crooked cats!  GUILTY!
Take them to court and sue them all!
Think it is just to punish your dog for stealing dinner off your table?   Or mice for eating a box of cereal in your pantry?  What about the guilt of your cat who clawed and ruined your sofa?
While a judge would most certainly laugh if you brought Fido into the courtroom and accused him of theft, the people in the Middle Ages wouldn’t have blinked an eye.   There are several documented cases (at least) of animals being called into “trial by ordeals”-  locusts for destroying a farmers crops, and some mice for eating food that didn’t belong to them.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

And here’s a bonus fascinating fact from the Middle Ages today.  Going to a trial looked a lot different during Medieval times, than going to court does today.  Today we have a judge, lawyers, and a jury who hears our case and then makes a decision about guilt based upon the evidence we show them.  Not so in the Middle Ages (guess that was good for the animals who couldn’t speak for themselves!!).  Courts of that day practiced something called “trial by ordeal”.  Basically you were tested by either fire, water, or combat to see if you were guilty!  YIKES!
For example, you could be tied up and thrown into a pond.  If you survived, you were innocent.  If you drowned, you were guilty!  Wonder how things turned out for those mice and the locusts !
Thankfully, the beloved Charlemagne didn’t think that trial by ordeal was all that fair.  We can thank him for coming up with a much more logical way of proving innocence or guilt!  No wonder the people loved him!  Goodness!

You can read more here about Trial By Ordeal !
*Note- There are some other more complete articles if you are interested in reading further, but most are quite graphic in nature, so I didn’t include them here.

Week 3: Space Age Nifty Knights & Armor Coats                

Day 1- Space Age Armor

Remember those barbarians who sacked Rome and led to it’s fall?  The ones who liked to shock their adversaries and attack minus errrr…..clothes ?!?!?    (Blush!)   Well these same guys made a pretty incredible contribution not only to soldiers in the times in which they lived, but also to the pioneers who traveled to… OUTER SPACE for the first time!!

Today’s fascinating fact from the Middle Ages is that the Franks who came up with the very first, most basic form of detail chain armor called chainmail, indirectly helped NASA scientists to design suits for the astronauts!  Scientists even traveled all the way to the Royal Armouries just to study King Henry VIII’s armor!
Soldiers in our US military forces have also benefited from a cloth version of this same design!

You can read more here about chainmail armor  and here to learn about NASA’s Armor for Astronauts !

Day 2-  Knightly knickers, Stylish spaulders, and Armor ensembles

Early in the Middle Ages (remember those Dark Ages?), most people of all classes dressed similarly in wool clothing.  Maybe this was what was simply what they had to make clothes with, or maybe, as some speculate, people dressed this way because it was so much colder than usual!!  As time passed however, wearing the latest and most fashionable clothing styles became very much a part of life.  There are some beautiful medieval art works depicting the most spectacular (and strange!) garments of the era.  Note the length of the man’s shoes in the image above!

You might be surprised to know that many of the brave, battle ready knights of the Middle Ages were actually quite vain when it came to their appearances (and their social class) too!  Perhaps this interest in fashion came as they returned from battles in the Far East carrying bolts of silks and velvets.  Also remember that knights were not considered peasants.  They owned land, and when they were not fighting, belonged to a higher class of society.   In the 1,300’s,  men’s clothing in particular began to become a way in which to show one’s wealth, power, and social status.  And the knights of the day were no exception as they sported some super cool knickers, and some pretty fancy footwear when not in battle!  Long pointy shoes (called crakows or poulaines) and tall hats were all the rage!  You can even see a pair of ARMORED crakows HERE!  This fashion forward trend continued into battle as well!  The plain, functional armor became quite ornate as well!  Check out these stylish spaulders and armor ensembles->  The Cleveland Museum of Art .   Even the knight’s horses were high fashion and dressed to impress!

Want to learn more?

All about Knights Interactive
Click on this link to find 10 more fascinating fashion facts from the Middle Ages

Day 3-  Armor Coats

Today we will learn one more fascinating fashion fact about Knights of the Middle Ages!  Imagine yourself a knight in battle!  You are surrounded on every side by the clash of metal on metal.  It’s a bit hard to see with your helmet on.  Another knight is coming right at you… is he friend or foe?  How do you know?  

Did you know that the average knight had over FOURTY pieces of clothing on when going into battle, which probably weighed around 55 pounds ?!  It is fair to note however, the exact number of garments and the weight would depend on the century, as styles changed (the addition of chainmail for example).
And truly this was a problem… as the medieval knights wore more and more armor, it became harder to tell who was who, and which side they were fighting for!  How did they solve this predicament?
By adding another layer of FASHION of course!

In order to tell each other apart, special “coats” for their armor were sewn and added to the already lengthy list of garments.  These vests became known as coats of arms.  Unsurprisingly, the stylish knights came up with some quite creative and colorful designs!  They frequently added animals to symbolize their strength or bravery in battle.
And of course, what was born out of necessity, became fashion.  
Soon not just the knights wanted everyone to recognize who they were on the battlefield, but the nobility wanted everyone to recognize who they were EVERYWHERE they went.  And so heraldry was born!

What would you put on your coat of arms?

Read more about coat of arms and heraldry HERE  or  how to create your own coat of arms  HERE !

Week 4:
Knights of Note, Mythical Men, & Rotten Royals 

Day 1-  Are there still Knights today?

I bet you’re going to answer NO!
Fascinating fact for Day 1… YES!  There are still knights today!
There are even some pretty famous knights that you might have heard of, like Paul McCartney or Elton John.
Wait… aren’t those guys singers?
Yep.  Even though they aren’t what pops into your mind when you think of the word “knight”.   However, minus the shining armor, they’re recognized OFFICIALLY in the United Kingdom as knights.

Wish YOU could have been a knight?
Well maybe you’re still in luck!  There are other countries that still will give that title to folks who serve their country bravely.

Want to know which countries you could still become a knight in?
Find out  HERE !

Day 2-  The Robin Hood- Middle Ages Superhero!

First an intro, and then we will get to a fascinating fact that you probably don’t know!
Read on.  You’ll impress your superhero loving friends!

So Robin Hood is a well known figure from Medieval history.  I bet you’ve heard of him before.  As we’ve studied the feudal system during the Middle Ages, it is quite clear that the poor weren’t treated very well.  They were almost always overworked, underpaid, and lacking the very most basic necessities including even food.  But never fear!!
Robin Hood to the rescue!  
Yep.  Robin Hood was a real life Middle Ages superhero!  People sang songs about him, wrote books about him, and even reenacted his stories on holidays!
But did Robin Hood really exsist?  There is a big (and long standing) debate whether Robin Hood was just a Middle Ages myth, or if he was indeed a real man.  Watch the short video below and see what YOU think!

Now on to today’s fascinating fact!
Robin Hood, a superhero of the past, inspired one of our beloved modern superheroes of the present.
Can you guess which one?
Yes!  Robin.  Batman’s right hand man!  Fighting against injustice and crime!
Robin’s creation was inspired by books about Robin Hood that the creator had read as a child, and by the very popular 1938 Robin Hood movie that had come out right around the same time as the comic was created!

Want to know more?

Day 3- Spoiled Rotten Royals

If you think it was bad to be a peasant, life could always be worse.
The Royals of the day were pretty much above all laws.  They held a great deal of power over the people, and demanded respect.  Often this reverence was imposed by fear.  Their children were also to be held in equal esteem.

Now, imagine being the babysitter for the king’s kids.  NO ONE was allowed to tell them what to do or correct their bad behaviors.  It was actually punishable by death to correct or lay a hand on a noble’s child!  Yet as a Middle Ages nanny or tutor, you’d be expected to produce proper behavior in these rotten royals.  So how did they do this?

Whipping boys.
See!  I told you life could’ve been worse!
You could have had the job as a whipping boy.   Whipping boys were commonly used at the time as a discipline measure for the children of high class citizens.  When a child misbehaved, the punishment (often quite severe) was put upon the whipping boy.  The intention was that a feeling of great remorse and sadness would occur in the child of nobility as they watched the other child getting a whipping in their place.  Though no-one probably volunteered for this job, there was one thing that might’ve benefitted these children however.  Whipping boys were always lower class in the feudal system, and so learning how to read and getting an education was at least one positive!

Do you think this discipline method worked?
Would it work today?

Find out more !

What is a Whipping Boy?

Week 5:
A Mystic Monk, Fearless Friar, & Kid Crusaders

Day 1-  A Mystic Monk

Believe it or not.
You’ll have to decide what you think about today’s fascinating fact.  It’s pretty incredible.
Let’s jump in!
Did you know that there once was a monk (actually he was a friar) who lived in the 1200’s who predicted the invention of a TON of our modern machines, including the airplane, the submarine, and even motorized cars?!?   Roger Bacon studied science from a different perspective than other scholars of his time.  He was one of the first to develop a scientific method of experimentation that focused on building from proven facts.  He kept very large, heavy notebooks where he recorded outcomes of his experiments and many of his ideas for inventions.  And those notebooks tended to get him in trouble quite frequently.  Roger, being a friar, wasn’t allowed to write any type of books without permission from the Church, ESPECIALLY those kinds of books!  Remember that even though there were great advances in science during the Middle Ages, this area of study was very touchy!  Many early scientists were accused of heresy (against the church) and even witchcraft!   Needless to say, Mr. Bacon spent a lot of time in jail.

You can read and see some interesting artifacts from Roger Bacon’s life HERE,
AND  you can read more here about the life (and predictions) of Roger Bacon !

Day 2- A Fearless Friar, the Diet of Worms, and a King!

Ewwww!!!  You’d have to be pretty fearless to eat worms !!
Just kidding.  The Diet of Worms wasn’t a medieval diet fad that included gobbling up a daily dirt dweller, it was actually a meeting (diet) at a place called Worms (a city in Germany) about a friar (kind of like a preacher) named Martin.  Maybe you’ve heard of him before!
On Day 1 this week, we read about Roger Bacon, and how his pursuit of new ideas in science caused him a whole heap of trouble.  Well our fearless friar Martin studied another subject that caused him a bunch of issues with authorities too.  Was it math?  Art?  Latin?  Music maybe?
Nope.  It was the Bible.
And you might be surprised to know that the people that Martin’s studies and ideas made the maddest were all part of… the Church!  Strange isn’t it?
Anyhow, Martin thought that the Bible should be available for all people to read and study.  This didn’t go over well with the Church.   Martin protested that having the Bible only available in Latin kept people from reading it and understanding it for themselves.  He thought that this allowed some power hungry religious leaders to have too much control.  Martin was convinced that every person should be able to read the Bible, so he worked tirelessly until he had translated the whole Bible into German (his language).  Most would say this was a noble work.  But not during Martin’s life!  Though he stood strong in the face of the emperor and the other powerful men at the Diet of Worms,  he was arrested, kicked out of the Church, called a heretic, and nearly killed!  On his way to prison, he was purposefully kidnapped, dressed up like a knight (remember it was hard to tell who a knight was with all those clothes!!), and taken to safety!!
Today Martin Luther is probably most remembered for starting the Protestant Church.
Did you notice the word “protest” in there ?  😀

But there’s MORE!
Today is a DOUBLE fascinating fact day!   There was another AMAZING Martin Luther that lived not during the Middle Ages, but during recent history.  This Martin was born in 1897 and lived until 1984.
Can you guess who it was?
Martin Luther King, Sr.  Who was the father of one of the most beloved and brave civil rights leaders of our time!
Do you know where he (and his son, Martin Luther King, Jr.) got his name from?
You guessed it!   Middle Ages Martin Luther.
In 1934, Martin Luther King, Sr. ( aka “Michael” at the time) took a trip to Germany.  He learned very much about the life and character of Martin Luther.  He was so impressed, that when he returned home he changed not only his own name, but the name of his little boy.   And the story of these two modern Martin Luther’s is just as extraordinary as Middle Ages Martin! 

You can read more about this-
–Modern American History
(scroll down to week 6 (Martin Luther King, Jr.) for lots of online resources, activity ideas, and fun!)

OR listen to this fun song all about Middle Ages Martin!

Day 3- Kid Crusaders

Have you ever heard about the Crusades?  It was quite a terrible and tumultuous part of history lasting almost 200 years.  The word ‘crusade’ has come to mean something a bit different (a religious war) as a result of the historical events, but it really was just a word that meant “to plant a cross”.  The First Crusade began as a mission by European armies to take back the Holy City of Jerusalem from the Turks.  Many people from peasants, to knights, to nobleman marched on this trek to reclaim the land.  Why was this so important to them?  Jerusalem is significant STILL to many different religions, as some of the most meaningful moments in their teachings have happened in this small area.  It is considered holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike!
Did you know that there were over 9 different crusades during the period of the Middle Ages, including one lead entirely by KIDS!  In 1212, two young boys rallied an incredible number of youth to attempt one more crusade to retake Jerusalem.  Some estimate tens of thousands of children marched toward Jerusalem!  The children were very genuine in their faith and piety.  They marched alone, unarmed, with only songs and prayers to protect themselves.   Stephen, one of the leaders, believed that their innocence would convert all the Muslims as they arrived in Jerusalem.  But the children never made it there.  Little by little they fell away.  Some took jobs in small villages they passed through, some returned home, and others were sadly kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Though their ultimate goal was not met, and the Muslims in Jerusalem were not converted, I wonder if they shared that great faith with others as they went along, and wherever they ended up!

You can read more here about theChildren’s Crusade !

Week 6:  Medieval Fashion Funnies

Day 1-  Big Belly Bombasting

In week 3, we learned how obsessed knights were fashion.  They weren’t the only ones!  Throughout the Middle Ages, fashion was KING!  This is mostly because people prided themselves on social position, and they were able to demonstrate this by wearing the most elaborate costumes!  Think of these folks like a peacock parading it’s plumage down the street! You get the picture!  
Now imagine that peacock looking more like a stuffed turkey.  That’s the style I’m trying to describe here.  This high fashion forward trend in the Elizabethan era was something called bombasting.  It consisted of taking ones clothing and STUFFING it to the gills with cotton (the best choice), horsehair (imagine the itch!), or even wheat kernels!  While most of us today prefer clothing that makes us look slimmer, the fashionistas of the Middle Ages would beg to disagree.  They packed their sleeves, their shoulders, their legs, their bottoms, and YES!!!  They even bombasted their BELLIES!   This plumpness was especially desired because it showed that the person ate well and was prosperous!
WOW!  How the times have changed!

Want to see some fine examples (images) of the medieval bombasting bests?
->Middle Age Fashion- Bombasting 

Day 2- Med-Evil Makeup

The cost of covering it up… death by makeup ?!?!
Another interesting mark of beauty to the Europeans in the Middle Ages was perfectly white skin.  Though we aren’t so concerned with porcelain colored faces, this is not unlike today actually, where women of all shades cover their faces with concoctions of creams and powders.  In the Middle Ages, it was very fashionable to wear such a thick coat of makeup that it was nearly a mask!  Remember that this was back before the knowledge of the harm that slathering your skin with chemicals can do, women used straight up lead.  Well, lead mixed with arsenic and egg whites most often.
This makeup was med-EVIL!!!
And women who used this beauty blend frequently died from it!!   How’s that for the price of beauty!?!

One more fearsome fact since we’re on the topic!
Did you know that in addition to flaunting faces as pale as a ghost, it was vogue to have NO eyebrows!?!  
It’s true!  Ladies hated all hair on their faces (and often on their heads- but we’ll talk about that tomorrow), so they just shaved it all off.  That’s not so scary you say?  Just wait…
Well when the hairless hype ended, many of the women found that their eyebrows wouldn’t grow back!  What to do?   Here’s the frightening part…
They caught mice.  Skinned them.  Dried them out.  And used their hides as fake eyebrows!
I don’t know which part is worse!
The whole process of acquiring mouse eyebrows, or what THAT must’ve looked like!!

Want to know more? 

Check out Dying to Be Beautiful- Makeup In the Middle Ages

Day 3- Wacky Wigs

Ok.  So maybe this won’t be quite as terrifying as mouse brows, but it’s right on up there!
Today’s fascinating fact has to do with another beauty mode of the Middle Ages.
WIGS!
If you’ve ever seen art depicting this era, you will immediately notice that EVERYONE is wearing wigs.  Men, women, and occasionally even kids appear in paintings with high, tight, and white hair!  And to keep the “natural look” (really who were they fooling?), they plucked out all the hairs wayyyyy back on their foreheads so the wigs would sit pretty.  OUCH!

So WHY did they like this look?
Necessity.  And herein lies the fright.

Do you really want to know why the medieval maids and men wore wigs?
Are you sure?
Ok.  Here goes. 
They all, most always, had… LICE! 
Oh the itch!!!  Who can even blame these poor people!  Wigs were often worn because heads had to be shaven to get rid of those little, creepy crawly critters!!!  And there you have it.  One more fascinating (and frightening) fact about Middle Ages fashion.  

Want to read more?

This post about Wig Wearing discusses where the trend started and continues on up to some other famous wig wearers, like Washington!

Week 7:  Middle Ages Smiles, Songs, and Sickness

Day 1- Middle Ages Cavity Chic ?

Welcome back!  I found so many fascinating facts about the beauty and fashion choices of the Middle Ages members, I just had to continue them onto this week.  The title gives this one away.  It’s hard to believe this one, but it is well documented and TRUE!!!   Cavities were cool!  
Evidently, the blacker the teeth, the better!  But have you ever had a bad cavity?  OUCH!!
This fascinating fact is hard to understand.  The explanation though seems to be common and the same one we’ve discovered in a lot of these interesting info bites.
Social status.

The Elizabethans were amazed by a newly imported sweet substance from the Indies.  What was this sweet stuff?  SUGAR!!!   They couldn’t get enough of it.
But they were royals, and so if anyone could get it, they could.  And so they imported it by the truck load!  Ok, so they didn’t have trucks in the Middle Ages, but you get the magnitude!  They were obsessed with SUGAR!  Some things haven’t changed much, huh?   Anyway, imagine indulging in great amounts of sugar, without a great amount of dentists (or even toothbrushes for that matter)!  The rich put it on everything they ate… dipped fruit in it, made edible decorations with it, and just about anything else they could think of to do with it.  And what did this produce?
BLACK TEETH!
Though this probably caused the wealthy a BIG pain in the mouth, the poor saw it as the latest look to copy, even resorting to rubbing charcoaled pieces of wood over their teeth to create the lovely rot look.

Want to know more ?

Read about ->  Queen Elizabeth’s Teeth

Day 2-  The Song that Started a War

Music has a lot of power.  
It inspires some, it can take us on a trip down memory lane, and it can make us feel certain emotions.  And it can start wars.

Once, there was a medieval poem that was set to a lovely melody, a song called ‘Roland’s Song‘.  Sounds like a nice enough thing!  Nope!  It started a war.  You might have read about it this week-  it was called the Battle of Hastings.
Imagine being the minstrel responsible for starting a war!  Was it his terrible voice?  Some really offensive lyrics?  Or maybe an out of tune lyre?  Almost, but not quite.  Actually, the war was going to happen anyway.  The song just kind of kicked the whole thing off.

Taillefer, a minstrel on the front lines with the Normans, began to sing… and juggle!
And for some reason, this seemed to trigger an English soldier on the other side of the field.  He ran at Taillefer, and was killed by his sword.  And so… that is how Battle of Hastings began.
A song and some juggling. 

Want to know what those words of offense were?
Listen to ‘Roland’s Song’ .

Day 3-  Like Fleas On a Dog

As the black plague swept through England during the Middle Ages, millions of people died.  But perhaps the most frightening part to the people living during that time, was that they had no idea what was causing the illness, or what they could do to stop it.  Some believed that the sickness was caused by bad smells, so they carried a little bouquet of flowers with them everywhere they went…holding it up to their nose so as not to breathe in any go the sick smell.  Others believed that it was a punishment from God.  There were many guesses, but it took a long time for anyone to figure out that it was FLEAS!  Fleas were about as plentiful as lice were in those days (read all about why wigs were worn!!).  They jumped on ships and since they didn’t take up much room, nobody even noticed they were there.
This helped spread the black plague all over Europe… like fleas on a dog.    
Literally.
You probably already knew these facts… but did you ever wonder what happened to all the DOGS if FLEAS were the culprits carrying the disease?  Absolutely nothing.  Essentially, the dogs simply were ubers for the fleas.  Taxi drivers giving the plague carrying critters rides from place to place.  Today’s fascinating fact… DOGS can’t be infected with the plague!

You can read more here on this Interactive – The Black Death page !

Week 8:  Dreamer Joan, Roses, and Linguist Liz

Day 1- Joan’s Dreams

Have you ever heard of Joan (actually Jehanne) of Arc?  She was the teenage French girl who rallied her nation to fight for it’s freedom from the English.  Often leading the other soldiers into battles herself, Joan showed incredible courage and determination.  However, because she was so young (and mostly because she was a girl), Joan wasn’t taken very seriously even by those who she was trying to serve.  Where did all Joan’s perseverance and resolve come from ?
Well, it all started with a dream.
When Joan was 13 years old, she had a dream.  God spoke to her and gave her the mission to save France.  Over the course of the next several years, Joan had many dreams giving her directions on what to do next.  At one point, Joan was able to meet Charles VII and bring him the message she’d been shown in one of her dreams.  Their conversation isn’t written in history, so we aren’t sure exactly what she told him, but he was convinced God had indeed spoken to her in her dreams.  From this time on, she had his support.  Joan was eventually captured by the English and killed.  She was only 19 years old.  For all her devotion and patriotism, she became a very beloved patron of the country of France, and is admired up to this day.

What do you think?
Read more here, about Joan of Arc’s life.
Some doctor’s today reason that Joan must have suffered from seizures or some other illness that caused her to hear and see these “visions”.  What do YOU think?  Did God really speak to Joan in dreams?  Why or why not?

Day 2- Roses and Cousins

Do you have any cousins?  Try to get along with them, ok!?!
Why?  Did you know that a “civil” war lasting over 30 years began because two cousins had a disagreement?
It was called “The Cousins War”, or sometimes “The War of the Roses”, as each family had a crest with a specific rose symbol.
Yikes!  What in the world could they have been that mad about?  
Well… they were pretty much fighting over the best seat at the table.  The royal table.  And the seat was the throne.
The York’s and the Lancaster’s just couldn’t agree who deserved to be King.  And instead of working things out, they just fought about it.  For 30 whole years!  The whole country was involved, taking sides.  It was a terrible war and many people were killed in the fighting.
So, how did it end?
By one of the Lancaster cousins, marrying a York cousin.  Yep!  That easy.    
A whole lot of years of Henries and Elizabeths later, Henry Tudor, of the Lancasters, married Elizabeth, a York.  And guess who became the king FINALLY?!  You guessed it.  Henry Tudor became King Henry VII. Well not THAT easy.  The leader of the Yorks (Richard III) was actually killed by Henry Tudor.  But then the wars finally ended.
To further the peace between families, King Henry created a new seal incorporating both of the roses from each family into one emblem.  That is why to this day, we remember the name of these wars most, as The Wars of the Roses!

 Learn more about the -> Cousins War <-  or see what the -> War of the Roses <- roses looked like!

Day 3-  Linguist Liz

Another Henry.  Another Elizabeth.  Just another day in history!
Remember King Henry VII, aka Tudor, from yesterday’s reading?  Well today, we’ll learn a fascinating fact about King Henry VII’s granddaughter Elizabeth, aka Queen Elizabeth I.  Elizabeth’s life was full of twists and turns.  She was born into royalty, then kicked out, then back in, then she was jailed for fear she’d steal the throne, and finally she became the Queen of England.  Phew!  What a bumpy road to royalty!
Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s dad, was not very excited about having a daughter.
He needed a male heir to inherit the throne.  He was so determined to do this that he kept marrying (and killing off!) wives until he finally had a son!  Yikes!  Anyway, even though Henry wanted a boy, he made sure that his daughter Elizabeth had a very good education.  
Did you know that by the time she was 11 years old she was said to have spoken 5 languages fluently ?!?  WOW!  Perhaps this helped Queen Elizabeth I to become one of England’s most beloved rulers.  She was often seen in various parts of the country speaking to the people and listening to their needs.  While she was Queen, she didn’t try to gain land or wealth.  Her people loved her and she ruled for more than 45 years!

You can read here about how -> Elizabeth FINALLY became Queen !
OR you can try this fun interactive page about Elizabeth I
And just for fun- this song all about her family the Tudors, sung by Elizabeth I

Week 9:  Legends of Long Ago

Day 1- King Arthur- Man or Myth?

Have you heard of the famous British ruler of the Kingdom of Camelot?
His name was Henry,  just kidding, it was Arthur. Arthur was married to the beautiful Queen Guinevere.  Together they ruled their people with kindness.  Camelot was governed by peace and justice, not so easy to come by in the Middle Ages!  King Arthur was also known for his meetings at a huge round table.  This was different in a time where most kings exalted themselves over everyone else by sitting on their thrones only!  Not King Arthur.  He wisely, and humbly counseled with his honored knights, making plans for his kingdom.  Countless books have been written about his life, songs written, and even movies made in modern times!
But was he even REAL ?!?!
King Arthur has been a very important part of British history for more than 1,000 years!!   His name appears in some of the oldest historical accounts of British history… INCLUDING a record of skeptics of his existence as early as the 1400’s!
One has to admit there are some outlandish claims in the stories-  a swamp lady comes out of the water to hand him a magic sword (excalibur), his best friend was a wizard (Merlin), for example! Nonetheless, Arthur has survived a very, very long time through history.

What do you think?  Man or myth?
You can read more here about the History or Legend of King Arthur .

Day 2-  Where is Camelot?

In the mid 1960’s, archaeologists found the Kingdom of Camelot.
Well, at least they think they did.  Actually, the site they unearthed is at a location called Cadbury Hill.  Here, an ancient stone fort was discovered from the time period in which the famous King Arthur (see yesterday’s fascinating fact!), would have lived.  The first archeological dig on the area happened much earlier, in 1913.  Many artifacts have been collected so far, including pottery, pieces of armor, brooches, coins, wine jugs, and glass beads.  Old stories about visits to Camelot, served as clues leading to the connection of Camelot and Cadbury.  One such text, written by John Leland in 1542, was striking-
“Right at the South end of South Cadbury Church stands Camelot. This was once a noted town or castle, set on a real peak of a hill, and with marvellously strong natural defences….. Roman coins of gold, silver and copper have been turned up in large quantities during ploughing there, and also in the fields at the foot of the hill, especially on the East side. Many other antiquities have also been found, including at Camelot, within memory, a silver horseshoe. The only information local people can offer is that they have heard that Arthur frequently came to Camelot.“

Does this make you question your man or myth decision from Day 1?

You can check out some of the artifacts that have been found in the  Cadbury Castle dig!
Watch the video for a short tour of the Camelot site !

Day 3- Arthur’s Enormous Round Table

How big is your dining room table?
Does it seat 4?  6?  Or maybe you have a really big family table that seats 8, 10, or even 12 people!
Now imagine a table that could seat one THOUSAND people !
King Arthur’s famous round table is said to have been able to seat this many people.  Legend has it that it was a wedding gift to Arthur from his father.  It was made out of rock and wood, and must have weighed a ton… or 5 !  Imagine trying to move it across the room, much less from one castle to another!  
Another believe it, or not?  
King Henry III (remember him from a few days ago?) sure believed it!  He was so intrigued by the stories of King Arthur that he had his own round table constructed!   The table was over 18 feet in diameter, and weighed over a TON!
How can I possible know this?
Because it is still in existence today.  You can see it at the Great Hall of Winchester Castle! 

Want to see King Arthur’s (errr… King Henry’s) Round Table?

Week 10:  Da Vinci versus Michelangelo

Day 1- Art that is dead.

Wait!  I thought “renaissance” mean rebirth…to come alive again.
Actually though, DEATH was a huge part of Renaissance art!!
Middle Ages artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are known around the whole world for their incredibly beautiful (and accurate) sketches, sculptures, and paintings.  Think of pieces like the Mona Lisa, Moses, and the Sistine Chapel (see a virtual tour).  But did you also know that both Da Vinci and Michelangelo are also famous for their detailed sketches of the human body?  Doctors even used their works to study with!
So HOW did they know what all those muscles looked like under the skin?
Or how the bones and joints and ligaments all worked together?  Or the chambers of the heart?  Or every single vertebrate in the spine?  By studying dead bodies.  Ewwwww…I know!
But what’s even more shocking is what they had to do in order to get those corpses.  Yep.  They basically had to sit around hospitals, like medieval vultures, waiting for someone (without a family to claim them) to die.  Not what pops into your mind when someone says Renaissance art, is it?

Want to see some of Da Vinci and Michelangelo’s anatomy sketches?

See this incredible collection of Da Vinci’s anatomy sketches!

Day 2- The Great Showdown

“My sculpture is better than your sculpture!”.  “My painting is better than your painting!”
Children, please!
So maybe this wasn’t a REAL conversation between Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but it certainly could have been.  These two really did have a full out, and very public feud going on. Da Vinci and Michelangelo were worse than the Yorks and the Lancasters!  Actually, in their defense, it was kind of a set up.
Soon after a young Michelangelo had risen to celebrity status in the region, he was honored to be hired by Piero Soderini (a justice of the Republic) to paint murals of some epic battles on the walls of Council Hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.  Seems pretty low key, right?!  Nope.
Why not?  Guess who else Piero Soderini hired?!?  
You guessed it!  None other than Leonardo Da Vinci!
Perhaps in a publicity stunt, or just to entertain himself,  Soderini soon declared it to be a CONTEST!
And the heat was on!!
So, we all want to know, WHO WON?!?!
Clearly, the older Da Vinci was a bit jealous of the young hot shot, Michelangelo, and Michelangelo a bit intimidated by his older, more experienced adversary.  So how did the battle of the paint pallets end?!?
Well Michelangelo was so frustrated and bothered by Da Vinci, that he never even finished his part of the mural, and Da Vinci was so annoyed with Michelangelo, that he left for France for a time to escape him!  Historians are not quite sure why they despised each other so much, but if anyone suspected it before this project, it was VERY clear once they both began their work.  Historians also don’t know who won !!!
Don’t you hate that?
And because the mural was never completed, over the years other artists painted over the incomplete works of these two greats.  Therefore, the world may never know.  I’d love to be able to see the two parts side by side wouldn’t you?

Here is a replica of what Da Vinci’s ‘The Battle of Anghiari’ looked like!
And here you can see a copy of Michelangelo’s ‘The Battle of Cascina‘ .

So… who do YOU think would’ve won?!

Day 3- Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci

Imagine being in kindergarten and having to spell THAT name!  Fortunately for Lionardo (aka Leonardo da Vinci), he didn’t go to school!  Yep! You read that right!  The kid that grew up to design things WAY ahead of time, such as the helicopter, the parachute, the calculator, and even solar power, was self taught.  We don’t know who taught him the first basics, but from then on, this curious kid discovered the world around him all on his own!
There is one odd thing about Da Vinci’s reading, writing, and arithmetic…
Leo liked to write backwards!  Yep.  COMPLETELY backwards.  If you and I were to try to read his notes, we’d need a mirror to see it the correct way!   Some think maybe he was left handed and wrote this way so as not to smear the ink that they used to write with then.  Others believe he wrote his notes this way so some of his critics and foes couldn’t understand them!  What do you think?

You can read more about -> Da Vinci’s mysterious reverse writing <-  and even try it for yourself!
AND
You can read more cool facts about Leo  HERE !

**More resources for your Middle Ages History Study!

+FREE History of the Middle Ages Curriculum
+The Middle Ages History Curriculum Printable PDF Version
+The Middle Ages Printable History Cards 
+History of the Middle Ages Great Books List
+FREE 21 30 Fascinating Facts About the Middle Ages
+21 30 Fascinating Facts About the Middle Ages Printable PDF 

Here’s hoping you were FASCINATED by at least some of these super cool facts from the history of the Middle Ages.
Wishing you a wonderful year of living, loving, and learning together !

Coming up next in the 21 Fascinating Facts series, is Early American History !