Leisure Activities in the Late Middle Ages in Europe
My interest to write about the leisure activities in the Late Middle Ages came across my mind when I remembered talking with a friend about how much time we actually spent every day on facebook – a social networking website.
But since in the Late Middle Ages no televisions, computers, game boys nor phones and all other electrical devices existed, I wondered how young people of my age – adolescents - passed their free time. As we may do several sport activities, I wanted to know what kind of sport they practiced.
Furthermore was I interested in if there was a difference in leisure activities between the adolescents of noble and peasant social background.
When I started to look for material concerning my topic (first of all in the internet) I was quite surprised about the many sources the internet offered me.
Though, when I scanned over the texts, it was rather confusing because every webpage was writing about different activities during different time periods and at different places. Hence/Therefore, I decided to focus on the Late Middle Ages (1250-1500) in Europe because it could bid me the most information – also in terms of books that I lend from the Mediothek. Once I had everything together I was prepared to start writing.
To begin, I will give you a brief summary about the society in the Late Middle Ages.
The medieval society was divided into three different social groups: the clergy, the nobles and the peasants. The peasants made up the majority of the population and were given protection and a piece of land by a lord to cultivate it.
In return, they had to hand in “feudal dues” in terms of labor services and a fraction of their harvest. As a result, most peasant parents couldn’t afford the money for their children to attend school. Instead, they spent a large part of their day working to support the family’s income but could still be going out and enjoying themselves in the evenings.
Nevertheless, they also benefitted from frequent holiday such as Saints’ Day. (medieval-faire.org)
Noble male children were more likely to go to school where they were taught to write and to read and were prepared for their future. Noble girls often stayed at home where they learned domestic skills to train them for marriage.
As a matter of fact, only few girls were sent to schools or nunneries in order to receive “basic schooling”. (about.com) Still, compared to peasant peers, their time was much more dedicated to leisure activities because they didn’t have to assist their parents at home. (about.
Com part 5 page 2)
When adolescents were given time off they were at liberty to do whatsoever they wanted to do. As surprisingly it is there were a lot of different activities that were exercised by medieval adolescent society.
From sports that required physical power to more “sophisticated” (book google page159) games. Some of them which evolved to nowadays’ leisure amusement games and sports.
For example poverty restricted the assortment of some diversions. (google book. Page 159)
Nonetheless/Despite these restrictions, games were very widespread in the medieval society and were surprisingly played in all ranks of society yet with some exceptions that the noble adolescents profited from.
Popular above all was Chess which originated from the Orient and was introduced into the upper ranks of the nobility in the eleventh century and was considered a more intellectual brain teaser. Additionally, these Chess Figures cost a fortune at that time due to the fact that they had to be imported from the Orient. (book mediohek)
Reading was also considered being a privilege (to nobles).
To acquire the skill of reading, one first had to learn reading which calls for (voraussetzen) a tutor or tuition at a school. (boog google p 171) As already mentioned, most peasant families couldn’t bring up the money for their children to go to school. Consequently, most peasants and their offspring were illiterate.
At feasts and banquets for instance at weddings and funerals and on bank holidays such as Christmas and Easter, the nobility organized exclusive parties with musical entertainment from minstrels and troubadours.
Another favorite pastime of noble adolescents was horseback riding. Even today, it is a very expensive and noble sport. Only the very rich ones could afford to purchase their own horse. Races were organized between the nobility to demonstrate their desire to prove who had the best quality horses. (gbook p 180).
Noble teenagers – and noble adults – had the permission to hunt and fish in contrast to the peasants. It was certainly the most popular leisure activities in the Late Middle Ages, but it was strictly limited to the pleasure of the nobility.
It transmitted them a feeling of being superior over the inhabitants within their domains. The captured animals were usually kept, fed and trained for tournaments in which everybody showed their accomplishments. (google book p172)
In early bowling games, competetors had to try to knock down their opponent’s wooden cone with a ball. Blindman’s Buff involved at least two players. One of which/whom was blindfolded and the other being the target and trying not to get caught. Prison Base was a game with two teams each of which was positioned on one half of the field.
Each player of the group was given a number. It was the task of the opponent group to find out the order of these numbers by tagging them out one by one in the right order. This game gained a tremendous success in the 14th century especially in London. In fact, it was so favored, that Edward III, former King of England and Wales from 1327 to 1377, banned the game on the grounds of his palace of Westminster because the games were so noisy and boisterous.
Though not until the 16th century – at the end of the Middle Ages – tennis rackets in the similar form as today came into use. (Wikipedia tennis)
In the late 14th century, a new revolution occurred in the sector of games: Card emerged and gained rapidly popularity. The number of different forms of playing cards increased very soon and expanded all over Europe.
The most popular forms were called Poch, a forerunner of today’s Pocker and Thirty-One which is very similar to nowadays’ Blackjack.
- Cards
- Board games varied by quality and expense of playing boards.
References & Links
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