Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > Life in a Medieval Castle > Status Update

I mean, both the War of the Roses in England and the Civil War in England were both civil wars.

"The decline in military importance of the castle, apparent in the fourteenth century and rapidly accelerated in the fifteenth, is associated, like that of the armored knight, with the introduction of gunpowder. In the closing stage of the Hundred Years' War (1446-53), the old strongholds of western France that had withstood so many sieges fell with astonishing speed to the ponderous iron bombards..."

The last chapter is "The Decline of the Castle." I'll be finished by the end of the day.

"Lammas (August 1) was the end of the harvest. Lammas — from the Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mass ("loaf mas")— was a feast of first fruits, a day when bread was made from new wheat blessed in church." I wonder if this inspired Tolkien to write lamlas (lemlas?), elvish bread?

"In June, Midsummer...boys collected bones and rubbish and burned them, and carried brands about the fields, to drive away the dragons that were believed to be abroad poisoning the wells. A wheel was set afire and rolled down the hills, to signify that the sun had reached its highest point and was turning back." I love the dragon detail.

Imagine if modern day continued some of these festivities. "Bringing in the May" sometimes meant a couple spending a night in the forest. "Rogation Days" or "Gangdays" were days where sometimes small boys were ducked in brooks and ponds and their buttocks bumped against trees and rocks to help them memorize the village boundaries.

Never heard of a vetch before. Apparently it's some sort of bean.

Oof, got some crossbow/longbow debate going on here. Seems to me that the authors favor the crossbow despite its slower rate of fire, weight, and strength needed for the draw string. Longbows continued to be more favorable with faster rate of fire, lighter weight comparatively, and less strength needed. They do point out that longbows were favorable in open battles, while crossbows were used in castles.

I'm not sure where they got their source for the "fire-bearing arrows." All historians I've seen analyzing Hollywood depictions of castle sieges and battles have said that fire arrows were a work of fiction, or at the very least were not at all as good as Hollywood made them out to be. Certain arrows were designed as an open, iron basket container that could be stuff with flammable material.

"A custom of English nobles that may date to the thirteenth century, that of hanging their heraldic banners outside inns where they were staying, led to the inn sign of later times." Really? I did not know that! That's cool!