Time Period Information
By Ashley, Brittany and Sarah
BACK
Politics The people of the Middle English time period did not have a lot to say when it came to politics. There were many battles amongst the governments from many countries. The main type of government was monarchy. Most, if not all countries were ruled by a king or queen ora Lord. Taxes were fairly high due to the high expectations and demands of the royalty. Language Language has tremendously evolved over the last few centuries, leaving Old. Middle, and Shakespearean language in the past, for the most part. During the Middle English time period, speech required a more open throat and a more active tongue, rather than how we speak today with our mouths half open and our tongues more less hanging slack. When people of that era went to speak, their vowels were called, "front vowels" and sounded like, "aee," "ee," "eh," and "ah." Then they had their "back vowels" which sounded like, "au," "oo," "oh," ans "aw." Consonants during this time, that are now silent, often required a more active tongue, lip and throat movement in order to pronounce them correctly and sound them. Some examples of pronunciation of their language are: 1. The word "white" would be pronounced with the "I" sounding like an "e", and the "e" on the end of the word white has the "uh", the end result would be "wheetuh". 2. The word "sweet" would be pronounced with the "ee" sounding like and "a", the end result would be "swate". 3. The word "meat" would sound like "mate". 4. The word "hate" would be pronounced "hatuh". 5. "Fool" would be pronounced "fohl". 6. "Good" would be pronounced "gohd". 7. "Boat" would be pronounced "bawt". 8. "Stone" was pronounced "stawn". Technology Many of the developements in technology in the time period were focused around everyday life, tools for hunting and cooking were being created. Mass production was also a concept being introduced. Religion Religion varied depending on which area of the world is being focused aponl religion was being taken very seriously everywhere and the creation of new religions had begun. The Woman’s Role During this time period, women held a rather difficult position in society. Although they were largely confined to household chores, they were also allowed to hunt and fight with the men. Some roles lead by women include: blacksmiths, apothecaries, midwives or they worked on the farm in the fields. The Homes They Lived In Homes were cold, dark and damp. It was not awkward to find homes without windows, and the homes with windows were only small openings which would be closed at night. The houses were very small, confined spaces and families spent most of their time together in these quarters. Only the wealthy people were able to live in much better conditions. Their widows actually had glass and they had paved floors. Clothing Although the styles were rapidly changing, most people from this time period would be seen wearing undergarments for clothing, which were made of wool and linen. The wealthy people once again had much better material and wore presentable clothing, due to better materials available. Peasants Peasant was an appropriate name for the majority of people during the Time. Many produced goods needed by the Lord and worked continuously on the lands. The harvest of their lands were required to be given up. The taxes were very high and they supposably did not "own" themselves, according to the laws of that time.