Britain in the Middle Ages Part 10

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PRINTING PRESS]

They worked as a rule from five in the morning till seven at night in summer and from dawn till dusk in winter, with half an hour for breakfast, and an hour and a half for dinner and a sleep on hot days.

There was a holiday for every festival of the Church.

Of Jack of Newbury's workshop we read,

Within one room being large and long There stood two hundred looms full strong; Two hundred men, the truth is so, Wrought in these looms all in a row.

By every one a pretty boy Sate making quils with mickle joy, And in another place hard by An hundred women merrily Were carding hard, with joyful cheer, Who singing sate with voices clear.

And in a chamber close beside Two hundred maidens did abide, In petticoats of stammel red, And milk-white kerchers on their head.

Those who worked in one trade bound themselves together into a gild, and often lived in one quarter of the city to protect one another; those who desired to become members must serve seven years'

apprentices.h.i.+p. To guard their honour, the masters made a strict rule that no work should be sent to market until it had been inspected and found well done.

If a man fell ill, he received help from the gild. When the feast days came round and all made holiday, the elders of the gild provided a banquet and pastimes, and sometimes they welcomed the players who acted stories from the Bible and old legends. There was dancing and feasting and much merriment.

So the citizens became more important than great barons and soldiers, for they brought trade to the country and riches to the King's Exchequer.

A new world, too, was opening to the people, the world of books. With care the monks had copied down the old stories and histories, but there were few who could procure them to read.

The printing press was brought to England by Caxton. He was an English merchant, trading in the city of Bruges. It was his custom to spend his spare time in reading Latin and French stories. He translated the story of Troy into English, and the d.u.c.h.ess of Burgundy and her courtiers liked it so much that they asked him to write several copies. He says that his pen was so much worn, his hand so weary and his eyes so dim that he thought it worth while to learn the art of printing from those who could teach him.

Then he brought a press to London, and out of his shop he hung a sign "Books bought here good cheap." Only the rich could buy, for books were very dear. He printed the stories of King Arthur and also the Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints, Reynard the Fox and many another tale.

That the poorer folk might also read, he printed a few sheets of poems and fables. Among them was a book of good teachings for children. In this he bade them,

Arise early Serve G.o.d devoutly The world busily Go thy way sadly [seriously]

Answer demurely Go to thy meat appetently And arise temperately.

And to thy soup [suppers] soberly And to thy bed merrily And be there jocundly And sleep soundly.

It was at this time that scholars were beginning to read the old writings of the Greeks, and there were many other books, too, that they desired to have printed.

Then also men were moved to seek what lay beyond the ocean in the far west. They were in search of a new way to India, for India seemed to them the treasure house of the world. Out of the east came gold and silver and spices and silk, but the way was by mountain and desert and many a dangerous place. Few had ventured far across the uncharted seas that stretched away towards the setting sun, for their s.h.i.+ps were small and much at the mercy of the winds. It was necessary, too, to put into sh.o.r.e to get fresh stores of water when rain failed. A sailor wrote of their sufferings from thirst on one of these voyages, "The hail-stones we gathered up and ate more pleasantly than if they had been the sweetest comfits in the world. The rain-drops were so carefully saved, that, as near as we could manage it, not one was lost in all our s.h.i.+p.

Some hung up sheets, tied with cords by the four corners and a weight in the middle, that the water might run down thither, and so be received into some vessel set or hung underneath.... Some lapped with their tongues the boards under their feet, the sides, rails and masts of the s.h.i.+p. He who obtained a can of water by these means was spoken of, sued to, and envied as a rich man."

It was with a good compa.s.s and stout heart that Columbus and his men set sail to find India, and to their great joy they saw, after many months, "a little stick loaded with dog roses" floating in the sea, a sign that they were near land.

The natives, pointing to the setting sun, told them to seek gold in the great lands that lay beyond. Columbus thought he had found India, but it was America. To these lands adventurers came to seek for treasure and soon to find a new home.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

1. Find out from the pictures in the Saxon Calendar:

(_a_) the occupations of the Saxons, (_b_) the instruments they used in farming, (_c_) the kind of dress they wore.

(See Traill and Mann, _Social England_.)

2. Plan and build a Saxon village (in a sand tray or with clay, etc.).

3. Write down what you think the miller and the goose boy would say in the dialogue.

4. Describe a Saxon Hall. (Read descriptions in Beowulf and Ivanhoe.)

5. Look at some old ma.n.u.scripts, if you can, and make some illuminated letters.

6. Build a monastery in cardboard, paper or clay.

7. Cut out in paper some figures of Saxons and make a procession on their way to Church to keep a festival.

8. Write the story of Alfred's messenger arriving at the monastery to borrow the chronicle for the King's use.

9. Make a piece of tapestry showing a scene from the history of the Normans.

10. What can you discover about the Normans from the pictures of the Bayeux Tapestry?

11. Find out about Hereward the Wake.

12. Build a castle and defend it.

13. Find out some more stories of S. Francis of a.s.sisi.

14. Find out as many Norman French words in English as you can.

15. Read the tales of Robin Hood.

16. Cut out of paper some figures of soldiers and make a picture by pasting them on a large sheet, showing them landing in England after the victory at Crecy.

17. Find out about a tournament and make the lists. (See Scott's _Ivanhoe_.)

18. If there are any old buildings where you live, find out when they were built and who used them.

19. Make a subject-index to the book and arrange it in alphabetical order.

20. Make a date chart and ill.u.s.trate it with pictures.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

_Social England_ (ill.u.s.trated). Vols. I. and II. Ed. Traill and Mann (Ca.s.sell).

_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle._ (_Everyman's Library._ Dent.)