Ryan Velarde

Period 4

10-12-05

Medieval Journal Project

September 16, 1098

Today is my 5^th birthday. I was born on September 16, 1093. My name is John Michaels. I have a mother and a father. I am an only child, but I do not get very lonely. My father’s name is Alex and my mother’s name is Eleanor. My mother is a noblewoman, which is a lady who becomes lord of the manor because her husband is off in battle. She takes care of the manor, by supervising vassals, managing the house, and taking care of things that need to be done for the good of the family. My father, Alex is a powerful and highly respected knight. Our family is well known because of him. Because he is a knight he is always off fighting battles my mother has to take care of our estate most of the time. I will soon follow in his footsteps and go off to learn to be a knight. I just hope I will someday be as good a knight as he and as popular. I have to go to bed now, but I will write more tomorrow.

September 17, 1098

Since I am not yet seven I cannot be trained to become a knight. I usually help my mom around the manor when my father is gone, which is most of the time. Apart from helping my mom I also love to play. I like to go out with my friends and pretend that I am a knight. I also love to talk. I like to talk to people and find out what is going on in the world. I also love to hear about their life and have them tell me interesting stories. I am a very energetic kid. I also care about other people. I usually am not mad or upset because that puts me in a bad mood and then I cannot have fun and other people do not talk to me. I am also tall for my age. Both my parents are also very tall. I am also very athletic. I am Christian and I love going to church. That is one of my favorite places to go.

September 16, 1100

I am really happy because today I am seven years old. I will be leaving to the castle of my father’s lord shortly so I can train to become a knight. I will miss my mother and father when I leave. I am used to not seeing my mother for long periods of time, but not my mother, when my father has not been around my mother has to help and support me. I have been waiting for my seventh birthday forever and now it is finally here and I am very happy.

October 16, 1100

Today I finally get to go away to train to be a knight. I packed my bag yesterday so I do not have to worry about that. The castle is not to far away from our house so I will not have to far to travel. Well I have to go to the castle know. I will miss my mother and father greatly.

October 18, 1100

I have now spent a couple of days in my trainer’s castle. It is very big. I also feel very protected in it because there is a huge moat surrounding the castle and there are very high walls so I do not think that we will be attacked by invaders. The food that I have had so far is spectacular. The people here are also very nice. My trainer and I can already tell we will work great together. I have made many new friends and there are other knights in training here also, but they have all been here a lot longer than me. I have not yet started my training to become a knight for 7 years. Well I have to go because it is dinner time.

February 13, 1101

My father past away the other day and today is his funeral. My mother and I are both very sad; along with the other people other villages. Even though he is dead he died with high honors and died proudly for the village. Well, apart from my father’s death I am a Page and I am basically a servant to the castle. The jobs that I do are very light, unlike a squire’s job. I also serve the knights. It is not that fun, but it is also very easy.

September 18, 1107

I am now 14. I have been working around the castle as a Page for the last 7 years and now I am finally a squire. I now am an assistant to the knights. I Carry their shields for them and help them with whatever they need. The past 7 years were pretty easy and boring, but these next 7 years will be very rough. In a couple of days I start actually training to become a knight. It should be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it.

October 1, 1107

Today I learned how to use weapons in my training to knighthood. I learned how to use a lance and boy are they heavy. My trainer told me that I did pretty well with it since it was my first time. Even though he said I did a good job I still have a lot of work to do before I am close to being ready to be a knight. I also got to put on the armor. The armor is very heavy and it is hard to move in, but at least it will protect me in battle. It feels like I have a horse on my back instead of being on the horse’s back. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the next seven years of training.

September 16, 1114

Today is my 21^st birthday and I have been waiting for it my whole life. Today I became a knight. It was a long and vigorous process to achieve knighthood, but it was all worth it because I am now a knight. This morning at dawn I had to take a ritual bath. After that I had mass and breakfast with my family and friends and I was dressed in white. To become a knight I also had to be touched on the shoulder with a sword. After I became a knight there was a huge party and it is still going on right now. Apart from the big ceremonies I also get to marry a wealthy heiress, land, and service to a noble as a high official. Everyone is so proud of me and I am proud of myself that I am finally a knight.

January 3, 1117

I just got back from battle and we won. I felt very honored to be at war for my people and I was very happy that we won. Even thought there was a lot of happiness there was also a lot of sadness. Some of my close friends were killed during war, but they sacrificed their lives for their people. They are respected greatly. I also have a wonderful family now. My wife’s name is Sarah and we have a wonderful son named Gregory. He is about 2 now and I can already tell he is like me. He has a lot of energy and is all over the place. I hope that one day he will become a knight just like me.