Knights and Peasants

• When you think of Medieval times you might think of knights living in castles. They were professional soldiers who fought on horses wearing armor. However, only a few people were knights. The vast majority were peasants who had little money or freedom and often had to give some of the food they grew to the rich person--often a knight--who owned the land they lived on.
  
  

Food

• What people ate depended on how rich or poor they were. A rich knight enjoyed three meals a day with plenty of meat and wine. Meat was expensive to buy so poor peasants ate very little of it. They usually ate pottage, a kind of soup made with whatever vegetables they had.
  
  

Torture

• If someone was suspected of having committed a crime, they might be tortured to make them confess or as a punishment. Medieval torturers used lots of different pieces of equipment in their job, including the rack, which allowed them to stretch people's arms and legs, and the chair, an ordinary wooden chair covered with up to 1,000 sharp spikes which pierced the person's body when they sat in it.