What's In Your Surname? 2 - The end (Pages 49 - end)

 

RATING: GOOD

The book was interesting and educational, but I have to say that I found the last part tedious.

The novel shows us different professions in the Middle Ages. 

The steward was the lord's house manager, t the official in charge of the daily running of a castle or house.

The lord's chamberlain attended the master in his private chamber. The chamberlain superintends the arrangement of domestic affairs and was often also charged with receiving and paying out money kept in the royal chamber. The position was usually awarded as an honour to a high-ranking member of the nobility (nobleman) or the clergy, often a royal favourite.

The chancellor was the secretary and keeper of official records. 

The page was a young boy sent to the lord to be trained as a king. In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a nobleman, a knight, a governor or a castellan. Until the age of about seven, sons of noble families would receive training in manners and basic literacy from their mothers or other female relatives. Upon reaching seven years of age, a boy would be sent to the castle, great house or other estate of another noble family. This would match the age at which apprenticeships or servants' employment would be entered into by young males from lower social classes.

The page was then promoted to squire. In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. He was responsible for taking care of the horse and arms of the knight. Other duties included carving the knight's meat. Despite being a servant, it was a high status job and could serve as training for future knights.

The knight was a professional soldier in the household of a baron. Knights were medieval gentleman-soldiers, usually high-born, raised by a sovereign to privileged military status after training as a page and squire.

The butler was in charge of the wine. The modern role of the butler has evolved from earlier roles that were generally concerned with the care and serving of alcoholic beverages.

The constable was in charge of the stables. The constable (or "count of the stable"), who was responsible for protection and the maintenance of order within the household and commanding the military component and, with marshals, might organise hastiludes and other chivalrous events.

In aristocratic households, the marshal was responsible for all aspects relating to horses: the care and management of all horses from the chargers to the pack horses, as well as all travel logistics. The position of marshal (literally "horse servant") was a high one in court circles and the king's marshal (such as the Earl Marshal in England) was also responsible for managing many military matters.

The steadman attended the great war horses, and the palfrey caref  for pack carrying horses. 

The forester was the servant who controlled the forest. The forester usually held a position equal to a sheriff or local law enforcer, and he could act as a barrister or arbiter. He was often based in a forester's lodge, and was responsible for patrolling the woodlands on a lord or noble's property

.

The falconer was in charge of the hunting falcons and other birds of prey. Falconry became a regulated, revered, and popular sport and status symbol among the nobles and the clergy of medieval Europe. 

The chaplain was the lord's spiritual guide. The chaplain was there to conduct the daily services, including Mass (just like a priest), but also to continually recite prayers for the nobleman and his family, both living and dead. He effectively worked for the nobleman.

The book mentions some medieval musical instruments: the psaltery, lute and tabor. 

A psaltery  is a  box zither  Plucked keyboard instruments such as the harpsichord were inspired by it. Its resonance box is usually trapezoidal, rectangular or in the form of a "pig's head" and often richly decorated.

A lute is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body.

A tabor is a portable snare drum, typically played either with one hand or with two drumsticks. 

Ale was the drink that medieval people drank instead of water. Ale was an important source of nutrition in the medieval world. It was one of three main sources of grain in the diet at the start of the fourteenth century in England, along with pottage and bread. It was a drink necessary to public health, as it provided hydration and nutrition in a time when sources of safe, fresh water were extremely unreliable. 

Another drink was mead. Mead, also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. 

In medieval towns the barber was a profession concerned with surgery and dentistry. The barber surgeon was one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians. Instead, barbers, who possessed razors and dexterity, were responsible for tasks ranging from cutting hair to pulling teeth to amputating limbs.

The sheriff was the king's appointed representative. Sheriffs were among the most senior and influential officials in late medieval society. Elected annually, their functions included the maintenance of law and order, the enforcement of laws relating to the quality and price of bread and ale, the appropriate consultation with the city authorities in the case of royal requests, and carrying out any reasonable wishes by the mayor.

The bailiff was the sheriff's deputy. The bailiff was the chief officer of a hundred. He was subsidiary to the sheriff and he also represented the crown.

The beadle was the constable. In the Middle Ages a beadle  was a junior official of a court of justice, responsible for acting as an usher in a court, carrying the mace in processions in front of a justice, delivering official notices, making proclamations, and so on.

In medieval times, English coroners were Crown officials who held financial powers and conducted some judicial investigations in order to counterbalance the power of sheriffs or bailiffs.

The crier broadcast the local news. Prominent in Europe during the Middle Ages, a town crier was a person employed by a town/city to make public announcements and proclamations in the streets while dressed in elaborate, colorful outfits. 

Some towns were deserted in the Middle Ages because of the spread of pestilence. Examples are Tilgarsley and Tusmore in Oxfordshire. 

Tilgarsley was a village in Oxfordshire. It was recorded as existing in 1279 and was abandoned before 1350 as a result of the Black Death. 

Tusmore is a settlement in the civil parish of Hardwick with Tusmore, in the Cherwell district. By the early part of the 14th century Tusmore was the poorest village in the Ploughley Hundred. Thereafter it was depopulated by the Black Death. 

Other villages were forcibly depopulated  as the lords wanted to turn the villages into sheep pasture. Some exampless are Chalford adn Fawsley. 

¡