https://wiki.regia.org/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Admin&feedformat=atomRegiapædia - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T19:35:46ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.27.1https://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.css&diff=5612MediaWiki:Common.css2021-10-17T16:26:20Z<p>Admin: Emergency styling so meny is readable!</p>
<hr />
<div>/*<br />
<br />
Common CSS for all skins<br />
<br />
See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/M82 for standard colors<br />
<br />
*/<br />
* {<br />
box-sizing: border-box;<br />
}<br />
.clear{<br />
clear:both;<br />
}<br />
html, body {<br />
width: 100vw;<br />
min-height: 100vh;<br />
margin: 0;<br />
padding: 0;<br />
min-width:320px;<br />
}<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
table, th, td {<br />
border: 1px solid darkgray;<br />
padding: 1px;<br />
margin: 6px 0;<br />
margin-left: auto;<br />
margin-right: auto;<br />
}<br />
caption {<br />
font-weight:bold;<br />
text-align:left;<br />
}<br />
body {<br />
overflow-y: scroll;<br />
display: grid;<br />
background-color: #080808;<br />
color:#fff;<br />
font-size:14px;<br />
font-family:tahoma,helvetica,sans-serif;<br />
}<br />
<br />
@media screen and (-ms-high-contrast: active), (-ms-high-contrast: none) { <br />
/* IE-only styles here. Works for IE10 & IE11*/<br />
html, body {<br />
background-color: #FFFFD5;<br />
width:100%;<br />
}<br />
.quicklink {<br />
display:block!important;<br />
}<br />
}<br />
<br />
header {<br />
grid-area: header;<br />
background:linear-gradient(#000 85%,#ffffd5 100%);<br />
min-height: 100px;<br />
padding-bottom:15px;<br />
}<br />
.megamenu_container {<br />
background:#000!important;<br />
}<br />
.megamenu {<br />
text-align:center;<br />
}<br />
.megamenu li {<br />
display:inline;<br />
text-align:center;<br />
}<br />
.megamenu a {<br />
color:white;<br />
}<br />
main {<br />
background-color: #ffffd5;<br />
grid-area: main;<br />
color: #000;<br />
overflow:hidden;<br />
}<br />
footer {<br />
grid-area: footer;<br />
background: linear-gradient(#ffffd5 0%,#000 15%);<br />
min-height: 100px;<br />
display: grid;<br />
padding: 50px 20px 10px;<br />
color: white;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
footer a {<br />
display:block;<br />
color:white;<br />
text-decoration:none;<br />
padding: 0 0 1.6em;<br />
}<br />
footer a:hover {<br />
color:yellowgreen;<br />
}</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.css&diff=5611MediaWiki:Common.css2021-10-17T16:17:06Z<p>Admin: Wipe - start afresh with a few tests</p>
<hr />
<div>/*<br />
<br />
Common CSS for all skins<br />
<br />
See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/M82 for standard colors<br />
<br />
*/<br />
.megamenu_container {background:white;}</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.css&diff=5610MediaWiki:Common.css2021-10-17T16:10:59Z<p>Admin: Brought in from wikimedia commons</p>
<hr />
<div>/*<br />
<br />
Common CSS for all skins<br />
<br />
See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/M82 for standard colors<br />
<br />
*/<br />
<br />
/* Workaround for T279008 */<br />
.ns-14 .mw-parser-output:after {<br />
content: none;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Larger conditions-area in AbuseFilter for some */<br />
#wpFilterRules {<br />
min-height: 250px;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Larger notes-area in AbuseFilter for some */<br />
#wpFilterNotes {<br />
min-height: 150px;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Style for "notices" */<br />
.notice {<br />
text-align: justify;<br />
margin: 1em;<br />
padding: 0.2em;<br />
}<br />
#disambig {<br />
border-top: 3px double #c8ccd1;<br />
border-bottom: 3px double #c8ccd1;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Add arrows to toggle-blocks for collapsible elements */<br />
.mw-collapsible-toggle-expanded.mw-collapsible-arrowtoggle,<br />
.mw-collapsible-toggle-expanded .mw-collapsible-arrowtoggle {<br />
padding-left: 20px !important;<br />
background-image: url('//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/MediaWiki_Vector_skin_action_arrow.png');<br />
background-repeat: no-repeat;<br />
background-position: left center;<br />
}<br />
.mw-collapsible-toggle-collapsed.mw-collapsible-arrowtoggle,<br />
.mw-collapsible-toggle-collapsed .mw-collapsible-arrowtoggle {<br />
padding-left: 20px !important;<br />
background-image: url('//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/MediaWiki_Vector_skin_right_arrow.png');<br />
background-repeat: no-repeat;<br />
background-position: left center;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Metadata */<br />
table.metadata {<br />
border: 1px solid #a2a9b1;<br />
display: none;<br />
speak: none;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Class for links with loudspeaker icon next to them */<br />
.audiolink a {<br />
background: url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Loudspeaker.png") center left no-repeat !important;<br />
padding-left: 16px !important;<br />
padding-right: 0 !important;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* When this would make a red link, hide it. For links where #ifexist cannot be used due to high number of requests. See [[meta:Help:Page_existence]]<br />
*/<br />
.hidden-redlink a.new {<br />
display: none;<br />
speak: none;<br />
}<br />
.client-nojs .scriptonly {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
.client-js .noscript {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Infobox templates */<br />
.infobox {<br />
border: 1px solid #a2a9b1;<br />
background: #f8f9fa;<br />
color: black;<br />
margin-bottom: 0.5em;<br />
/* @noflip */<br />
margin-left: 1em;<br />
padding: 0.2em;<br />
/* @noflip */<br />
float: right;<br />
/* @noflip */<br />
clear: right;<br />
}<br />
.infobox td,<br />
.infobox th {<br />
vertical-align: middle;<br />
}<br />
.infobox caption {<br />
font-size: larger;<br />
margin-left: inherit;<br />
}<br />
.infobox.bordered {<br />
border-collapse: collapse;<br />
}<br />
.infobox.bordered td,<br />
.infobox.bordered th {<br />
border: 1px solid #a2a9b1;<br />
}<br />
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,<br />
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {<br />
border: 0 solid #a2a9b1;<br />
}<br />
.infobox.sisterproject {<br />
width: 20em;<br />
font-size: 90%;<br />
}<br />
<br />
.archive-box {<br />
border: 1px solid #aaf;<br />
background: #f2f2f9;<br />
color: #000;<br />
margin-bottom: 0.5em;<br />
margin-left: 1em;<br />
padding: 0.2em;<br />
float: right;<br />
clear: right;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/**<br />
* Customisation of the interface<br />
*/<br />
<br />
/* Add a checker background to custom image rendering templates. */<br />
/* For standard thumbnails, galleries, file history, file description preview this happens by default. */<br />
.com-checker img:hover {<br />
background: url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Checker-16x16.png") repeat;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Moved upload link from toolbox into the MediaWiki:Sidebar thus suppressing the old duplicate */<br />
#p-tb #t-upload { display: none; }<br />
<br />
/* Makes the text of the "save" button bold */<br />
#wpSave { font-weight: bold; }<br />
<br />
/* Make sure the license dropdown of the upload form doesn't extend beyond the browser's<br />
window, even if there are some long license descriptions. (If that happens, the description<br />
box *also* goes beyond the right edge of the window.)<br />
*/<br />
#wpLicense {<br />
width: 100%;<br />
overflow: hidden;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Give the upload form a little breathing space. */<br />
#upload * td {<br />
padding-bottom: 8px;<br />
}<br />
#mw-upload-table * td {<br />
padding-bottom: 8px;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Styling for Abuse Filter tags */<br />
.mw-tag-markers {<br />
font-style:italic;<br />
font-size:90%;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Override rules that make edit link asymmetrical on talk pages and new section link skinnier than the rest */<br />
#p-cactions #ca-addsection a {<br />
padding-left: 0.8em;<br />
padding-right: 0.8em;<br />
}<br />
#p-cactions #ca-edit a {<br />
padding-left: 0.8em;<br />
padding-right: 0.8em;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Something nice for lists in RTL languages */<br />
div.RTL * ul {<br />
margin-right: 10px;<br />
display: table;<br />
}<br />
div.RTL * ol {<br />
margin-right: 10px;<br />
display: table;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Special:Search styles */<br />
<br />
.mw-search-results li{<br />
padding: 0.25em 1em;<br />
border-bottom: 1px solid #d3daed;<br />
}<br />
.mw-search-results li:nth-child(odd) {<br />
background-color: #f6f8fc;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Main pages */<br />
<br />
<br />
/* Hide title and "Nominate for deletion" button when viewing the main page (but not when editing it or viewing the talk page).<br />
* The "mw-mainpage" class is for all localised main pages in [[MediaWiki:MainPages.js]].<br />
*/<br />
<br />
/* Optimise for "Main Page" because the scripts don't apply until after page load so it flashes briefly.<br />
* Support IE6: ".page" must go after ".action" as IE6 only supports one class per element and uses the last one. If reversed, the rule will hide headings on all pages.<br />
*/<br />
.action-view.page-Main_Page #firstHeading,<br />
.mw-mainpage #firstHeading,<br />
.mw-mainpage #t-ajaxquickdelete,<br />
.mw-mainpage #localNotice,<br />
.mw-mainpage #siteSub,<br />
.mw-mainpage #catlinks {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
<br />
#mainpage-potd a img {<br />
width: 100%!important;<br />
-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;<br />
height: auto!important;<br />
max-width: 600px!important;<br />
}<br />
<br />
.utoc .tocnumber {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
.utoc #toc ul,<br />
.utoc .toc ul {<br />
line-height: 1.5em;<br />
list-style-type: square;<br />
margin: .3em 0 0 1.5em;<br />
padding: 0;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Necessary for displaying text in the upper right edge. (Used in [[Template:Shortcut]].) */<br />
#content span.coordinates a.external.text:after, #content span.coordinates a.external.autonumber:after { content: ""; }<br />
#content div.coordinates a.external.text:after, #content div.coordinates a.external.autonumber:after { content: ""; }<br />
<br />
#shortcut { display: none; }<br />
<br />
/**<br />
* Style for horizontal lists (separator following item).<br />
* @source mediawiki.org/wiki/Snippets/Horizontal_lists<br />
* @revision 6 (2014-05-09)<br />
* @author [[User:Edokter]]<br />
*/<br />
.hlist dl,<br />
.hlist ol,<br />
.hlist ul {<br />
margin: 0;<br />
padding: 0;<br />
}<br />
/* Display list items inline */<br />
.hlist dd,<br />
.hlist dt,<br />
.hlist li {<br />
margin: 0;<br />
display: inline;<br />
}<br />
/* Display nested lists inline */<br />
.hlist.inline,<br />
.hlist.inline dl,<br />
.hlist.inline ol,<br />
.hlist.inline ul,<br />
.hlist dl dl, .hlist dl ol, .hlist dl ul,<br />
.hlist ol dl, .hlist ol ol, .hlist ol ul,<br />
.hlist ul dl, .hlist ul ol, .hlist ul ul {<br />
display: inline;<br />
}<br />
/* Hide empty list items */<br />
.hlist .mw-empty-li {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
/* Generate interpuncts */<br />
.hlist dt:after {<br />
content: ": ";<br />
}<br />
.hlist dd:after,<br />
.hlist li:after {<br />
content: " · ";<br />
font-weight: bold;<br />
}<br />
.hlist dd:last-child:after,<br />
.hlist dt:last-child:after,<br />
.hlist li:last-child:after {<br />
content: none;<br />
}<br />
/* For IE8 */<br />
.hlist dd.hlist-last-child:after,<br />
.hlist dt.hlist-last-child:after,<br />
.hlist li.hlist-last-child:after {<br />
content: none;<br />
}<br />
/* Add parentheses around nested lists */<br />
.hlist dd dd:first-child:before, .hlist dd dt:first-child:before, .hlist dd li:first-child:before,<br />
.hlist dt dd:first-child:before, .hlist dt dt:first-child:before, .hlist dt li:first-child:before,<br />
.hlist li dd:first-child:before, .hlist li dt:first-child:before, .hlist li li:first-child:before {<br />
content: " (";<br />
font-weight: normal;<br />
}<br />
.hlist dd dd:last-child:after, .hlist dd dt:last-child:after, .hlist dd li:last-child:after,<br />
.hlist dt dd:last-child:after, .hlist dt dt:last-child:after, .hlist dt li:last-child:after,<br />
.hlist li dd:last-child:after, .hlist li dt:last-child:after, .hlist li li:last-child:after {<br />
content: ") ";<br />
font-weight: normal;<br />
}<br />
/* For IE8 */<br />
.hlist dd dd.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist dd dt.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist dd li.hlist-last-child:after,<br />
.hlist dt dd.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist dt dt.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist dt li.hlist-last-child:after,<br />
.hlist li dd.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist li dt.hlist-last-child:after, .hlist li li.hlist-last-child:after {<br />
content: ") ";<br />
font-weight: normal;<br />
}<br />
/* Put ordinals in front of ordered list items */<br />
.hlist ol {<br />
counter-reset: listitem;<br />
}<br />
.hlist ol > li {<br />
counter-increment: listitem;<br />
}<br />
.hlist ol > li:before {<br />
content: " " counter(listitem) " ";<br />
white-space: nowrap;<br />
}<br />
.hlist dd ol > li:first-child:before,<br />
.hlist dt ol > li:first-child:before,<br />
.hlist li ol > li:first-child:before {<br />
content: " (" counter(listitem) " ";<br />
}<br />
/* END of HLISTs */<br />
<br />
/* Unbulleted lists */<br />
.plainlist ul {<br />
line-height: inherit;<br />
list-style: none none;<br />
margin: 0;<br />
}<br />
.plainlist ul li {<br />
margin-bottom: 0;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Default style for navigation boxes */<br />
.navbox { /* Navbox container style */<br />
border: 1px solid #a2a9b1;<br />
width: 100%;<br />
box-sizing: border-box;<br />
margin: auto;<br />
clear: both;<br />
font-size: 88%;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
padding: 1px;<br />
}<br />
.navbox-inner,<br />
.navbox-subgroup {<br />
width: 100%;<br />
}<br />
.navbox-group,<br />
.navbox-title,<br />
.navbox-abovebelow {<br />
padding: 0.25em 1em; /* Title, group and above/below styles */<br />
line-height: 1.5em;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
th.navbox-group { /* Group style */<br />
white-space: nowrap;<br />
/* @noflip */<br />
text-align: right;<br />
}<br />
.navbox,<br />
.navbox-subgroup {<br />
background: #fdfdfd; /* Background color */<br />
}<br />
.navbox-list {<br />
line-height: 1.8em;<br />
border-color: #fdfdfd; /* Must match background color */<br />
}<br />
.navbox th,<br />
.navbox-title {<br />
background: #ccccff; /* Level 1 color */<br />
}<br />
.navbox-abovebelow,<br />
th.navbox-group,<br />
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-title {<br />
background: #ddddff; /* Level 2 color */<br />
}<br />
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,<br />
.navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow {<br />
background: #e6e6ff; /* Level 3 color */<br />
}<br />
.navbox-even {<br />
background: #f7f7f7; /* Even row striping */<br />
}<br />
.navbox-odd {<br />
background: transparent; /* Odd row striping */<br />
}<br />
table.navbox + table.navbox { /* Single pixel border between adjacent navboxes */<br />
margin-top: -1px; /* (doesn't work for IE6, but that's okay) */<br />
}<br />
.navbox .hlist td dl,<br />
.navbox .hlist td ol,<br />
.navbox .hlist td ul,<br />
.navbox td.hlist dl,<br />
.navbox td.hlist ol,<br />
.navbox td.hlist ul {<br />
padding: 0.125em 0; /* Adjust hlist padding in navboxes */<br />
}<br />
ol + table.navbox,<br />
ul + table.navbox {<br />
margin-top: 0.5em; /* Prevent lists from clinging to navboxes */<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Default styling for Navbar template */<br />
.navbar {<br />
display: inline;<br />
font-size: 88%;<br />
font-weight: normal;<br />
}<br />
.navbar ul {<br />
display: inline;<br />
white-space: nowrap;<br />
}<br />
.navbar li {<br />
word-spacing: -0.125em;<br />
}<br />
.navbar.mini li span {<br />
font-variant: small-caps;<br />
}<br />
/* Navbar styling when nested in infobox and navbox */<br />
.infobox .navbar {<br />
font-size: 100%;<br />
}<br />
.navbox .navbar {<br />
display: block;<br />
font-size: 100%;<br />
}<br />
.navbox-title .navbar {<br />
/* intentionally is flipped */<br />
float: left;<br />
/* intentionally is flipped */<br />
text-align: left;<br />
/* intentionally is flipped */<br />
margin-right: 0.5em;<br />
width: 6em;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Put on gallery_details the same styles as on gallery */<br />
table.gallery_details {<br />
border: 1px solid #c8ccd1;<br />
margin: 2px;<br />
padding: 2px;<br />
background: #fff;<br />
}<br />
table.gallery_details tr {<br />
vertical-align: top;<br />
}<br />
table.gallery_details td {<br />
vertical-align: top;<br />
background: #f8f9fa;<br />
border: 2px solid #fff;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Small font-size for hidden categories,<br />
per [[Commons:Village_pump/Archive/2010Mar#Hidden_categories:_change_the_default_setting_for_logged-in_users]]<br />
*/<br />
#mw-hidden-catlinks { font-size: 87% !important; }<br />
<br />
/* To color the mention "updated since my last visit" in the history */<br />
span.updatedmarker {<br />
color: #000;<br />
background: #99D642;<br />
}<br />
/* Geographical coordinates defaults. See [[Template:Coord/link]]<br />
for how these are used. The classes "geo", "longitude", and<br />
"latitude" are used by the [[Geo microformat]].<br />
*/<br />
.geo-default, .geo-dms, .geo-dec { display: inline; }<br />
.geo-nondefault, .geo-multi-punct { display: none; }<br />
.longitude, .latitude { white-space: nowrap; }<br />
<br />
/* Fix link color in jQuery dialogs */<br />
.ui-dialog a {<br />
color: #0645AD!important;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Class for template content that should be shown locally, even if JS is disabled,<br />
but should not be visible on file pages shown on other sites.<br />
Use with style="display:none". Interacts with collapsible divs (see above).<br />
*/<br />
div.show-on-commons { display: block !important; }<br />
<br />
<br />
/* Note that image has annotations at Commons; visible only on other projects.<br />
See https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template_talk:ImageNote&oldid=55319045<br />
*/<br />
.annotationboxforwikipedia,<br />
.hide-on-commons {<br />
display: none;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Allow limiting of which header levels are shown in a TOC;<br />
<div class="toclimit-3">, for instance, will limit to<br />
showing ==headings== and ===headings=== but no further<br />
(as long as there are no =headings= on the page, which<br />
there shouldn't be according to the MoS).<br />
*/<br />
.toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,<br />
.toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,<br />
.toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,<br />
.toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,<br />
.toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,<br />
.toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul { display: none }<br />
<br />
/* Redirects in categories, on [[Special:Allpages]], and [[Special:Prefixindex]] */<br />
.redirect-in-category, .allpagesredirect a {<br />
color: gray;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Hide deletion-instructions headers inside closed deletion requests (redundant) */<br />
.delh .massdeletionrequest-header { display: none; }<br />
<br />
/* Message box templates */<br />
.messagebox {<br />
border: 1px solid #a2a9b1;<br />
background: #f8f9fa;<br />
width: 80%;<br />
margin: 0 auto 1em;<br />
padding: 0.2em;<br />
text-align: justify;<br />
}<br />
.messagebox.merge {<br />
border: 1px solid #cf9fff;<br />
background: #f5edf5;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
.messagebox.cleanup {<br />
border: 1px solid #9f9fff;<br />
background: #efefff;<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
.messagebox.standard-talk {<br />
border: 1px solid #c0c090;<br />
background: #f8eaba;<br />
}<br />
<br />
/* Cell sizes for ambox/tmbox/imbox/cmbox/ombox/fmbox/dmbox message boxes */<br />
th.mbox-text, td.mbox-text { /* The message body cell(s) */<br />
border: none;<br />
padding: 0.25em 0.9em; /* 0.9em left/right */<br />
width: 100%; /* Make all mboxes the same width regardless of text length */<br />
}<br />
td.mbox-image { /* The left image cell */<br />
border: none;<br />
padding: 2px 0 2px 0.9em; /* 0.9em left, 0px right */<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
td.mbox-imageright { /* The right image cell */<br />
border: none;<br />
padding: 2px 0.9em 2px 0; /* 0px left, 0.9em right */<br />
text-align: center;<br />
}<br />
td.mbox-empty-cell { /* An empty narrow cell */<br />
border: none;<br />
padding: 0;<br />
width: 1px;<br />
}<br />
<br />
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<hr />
<div>Slaves were an important part of early mediaeval society and appear in large numbers in charters and Domesday Book, but the evidence for them is mostly fragmentary and widely scattered.<br />
<br />
==Origins==<br />
<br />
Slavery was an institution of the Roman Empire, and picked by the Germanic tribes who dealt with it, as victims or suppliers. When those Germanic tribes reached Britain in the 5th century, they brought the practice with them, and the complete disappearance of Celtic culture from the east and south-east of Britain is strong evidence for their success. The chronicler Gildas was probably correct when he claimed that slavery was a common fate for many of his contemporaries, as the story of St. Patrick demonstrates. He was captured by pirates in the south-west of England, and spent six years in Ireland before escaping.<br />
<br />
==Slave Raiding==<br />
<br />
Almost all the slaves traded in the early middle ages were captured in raids or warfare. It seems to have been the practice to kill the leaders of a losing army and enslave the humbler peasants and local villagers. The Vikings are the archetypal slavers in European history, enslaving victims in eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area, and selling them in markets far away. For example, a number of Moors taken during a raid in Spain in the 9th century ended up in Ireland, but Ireland itself was a source of slaves for the Vikings, as was Scotland.<br />
<br />
The Vikings, however, were not the only slavers. It can be shown that the English conquest of Cornwall in the 9th and 10th centuries led to the enslavement of many of the indigenous Celts. In the same period, Edward the Elder led a combined West Saxon and Meridian army against the Danes and brought back both slaves and livestock.<br />
<br />
In the reign of Æthelred the Unready, slave raiding and trading once more became popular, with many of the slaves ending up in Denmark. The chronicler William of Malmesbury goes far as to blame Cnut's sister of being behind the trade. (Fortunately for William, she was long-dead before he wrote that!)<br />
<br />
So far, it seems as though people were only enslaved by foreign raiders, but this was not always the case. Earl Godwine enslaved some of companions of the Ætheling Alfred in 1036; Earl Harold took slaves when he landed in the West Country from Ireland in 1052; and supporters of Earl Morcar captured 'many hundreds of people' in Northamptonshire as late as 1065.<br />
<br />
==Slave Trading==<br />
<br />
We know where the slaves came from, but where did they go to? Where were the markets where people were bought and sold 'like brute beasts'?<br />
<br />
In England, one major 'export centre' was Bristol, little more than a village until the late 10th century. William of Malmesbury says that Bristol was a long-standing market: slaves were brought from all over England for eventual sale to Ireland. 'You might well groan to see then long rows of young men and maidens whose beauty and youth might move the pity of the savage, bound together with cords, and brought to market to be sold,' he wrote. Corbridge, in the north, was another market referred to in some documents.<br />
<br />
Apart from Ireland, many slaves were taken to Europe for sale. Rouen, in Normandy, was a major trading centre for goods seized by the Vikings - the Normans were known to have used domestic slaves- and it was a convenient location for pirates to off-load captives taken in raids along the English coastline. It seems that all the big markets were slave trading centres including, perhaps, Jorvik and London.<br />
<br />
After the Norman conquest, the slave trade came under pressure, even the king received fourpence for every slave sold. The social disruption and misery that organised slaving caused became more and more difficult to accept. At the Westminster Council of 1102, it was ruled that 'no one is henceforth to presume to carry on that shameful trading whereby heretofore men used in England to be sold like brute beasts.'<br />
<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
# Pelteret, D, 'Slave raiding and slave trading in early England', Anglo-Saxon England 9 (1981), pp99-114</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Gaming&diff=5170Gaming2018-08-30T13:30:32Z<p>Admin: image</p>
<hr />
<div>[[File:Gamers1.gif|thumb|281px|center|A game of Tabula in progress]]<br />
<br />
==Dice Games==<br />
<br />
Dice were made of antler for the most part, although examples of bone, walrus ivory and jet are also known. More perishable materials, such as wood and horn, were also likely to have been used. They were often rectangular, with the 1 and 2 on either end and the 3,4,5, and 6 on the four long sides.<br />
<br />
Others types were also found including modern shaped and numbered examples. Although the numbers on opposite faces do not always add up to seven (as on a modern dice), this arrangement is the most common. One curious dice found in Viking Dublin is a cubic dice, much like most modern dice, but has the curious number combination of 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6. This is reminiscent of the 'average' dice used in some modern 'wargaming' (in this case with the numbers 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5). The nature of the games played with dice are unknown, but simple games such as 'who can get the highest (or lowest) number were probably common (and are suggested by some of the sagas), as were games similar to 'liar dice' or 'yahtzee'.<br />
<br />
The 'long-dice' are usually found in sets of two or three, and normally have the numbers 1 and 2 on the smallest face, suggesting they were used for a game where low numbers were needed, although there is also a suggestion they were used for tabula/kvatrutafl. The use of the 'average' dice is unknown, but again may be for tabula/kvatrutafl. Dice have also been excavated that when x-rayed, revealed small weights inside them to deliberately favour one number; i.e. there were cheats even then.<br />
<br />
==Board Games==<br />
<br />
There are many finds of board games and gaming pieces from Scandinavia and from the British Isles. Gaming pieces were often hemispherical and made of antler, amber, bone, glass, clay, stone or even horses' teeth. Finds of several light and several dark pieces together have been made sometimes with a single piece being a different shape, like a sea urchin, in the same area.<br />
<br />
Another type of gaming piece found have been made from disk shaped slices of hart's pedicle (the lowest part of the antler, often including the boney seat of the antler), which must have been taken from a fully grown male deer carcass since this would not have been available with fallen antler. In some cases these have been beautifully carved and decorated and often have a hole in the centre where the porous heart of the pedicle has been removed.<br />
<br />
Writings of the times mention various board games but it can be quite difficult to work out exactly how the game was played. The word tafl (literally 'table') was used to describe a board game, with the pieces being referred to as toflur or hunn. Among the many names for games known from literature we have brannantafl, halatafl, hnefatafl, hnottafl, hræðtafl (literally 'quick-tafl'), kvatrutafl, merels, skaktafl and tabula, although the rules for many of these remain unclear. In any case the rules may have differed from place to place.<br />
<br />
===Hnefatafl===<br />
<br />
This was probably the commonest of the board games played, and was almost certainly a Germanic development of the Roman game latrunculi (soldiers).<br />
<br />
The game can be played on a board with 7x7, 9x9, 11x11, 13x13, 15x15 or a 19x19 squares. The centre often has special markings.<br />
<br />
A beautiful carved board with 13x13 squares was found at Gokstad in Norway. This is a double sided board with a nine men's morris layout carved on the reverse side as with other less impressive examples. Many other wooden tafl boards have also been found throughout the Viking and Anglo-Saxon world, but some of the boards were much simpler affairs being only marked out with charcoal or scratched onto the surface of slices of rock.<br />
<br />
The pieces for these games were usually hemispherical. For boards with 9 squares a side, 16 light and eight dark pieces were used, with an additional king. Boards with more squares used 24 light, 12 dark and a king (hnefi or cyningstan).<br />
<br />
Although by the later Middle Ages chess had taken over, hnefatafl still survived in Wales and is described in a manuscript of 1587. It was then called tawlbwrdd and was played on an 11x11 board with 24 light pieces, 12 dark pieces and a king.<br />
<br />
In 1732 a Swede called Linnaeus discovered a game called tablut whilst he was travelling in Lappland. The Lapps called the pieces 'Swedes' and 'Muscovites' and played the game on a 9x9 board.<br />
<br />
====The rules====<br />
<br />
The 'king' moves first. He has half the number of pieces his opponent has (6/12 in the 7x7 version, 8/16 in the 9x9 version, 12/24 in the 11x11 and 13x13 version, 24/48 in the 19x19 version . He wins the game if he can manage to get his 'king' out into one of the corner squares (the large 19x19 version often allows the king to win if he can reach the edge of the board). His opponent can win by trapping the king.<br />
<br />
All the pieces move in straight lines like the rook or castle in chess, and a piece may be moved any number of squares providing no other piece is standing in the way. It may not pass over another piece. A piece is taken by making a move which traps it between two of your pieces, but not on any diagonal; i.e the north and south, or the east and west positions around an enemy piece. It is possible to take two opposing pieces at the same time. A player is also permitted to move between two opposing pieces without being taken.<br />
<br />
The king can normally only be trapped if he is surrounded by four pieces unless he is on the edge of the board where only three would be needed to 'surround' or two at a corner. The four corner squares (which are sometimes decorated) may only be occupied by the king, but if the king is under attack the corner square is regarded as being occupied by an opposing piece. The same goes for the centre square, so here the king can again be trapped by just three pieces.<br />
<br />
===Duodecim scripta (or Tabula or Kvatrutafl)===<br />
<br />
This game is a development of the popular Roman game of duodecim scripta, also known as tabula or alea, which was also played in Germany and Scandinavia in the Roman Iron Age, where it appears to have been known as katrutafl. Several wooden boards for this type of game are known from the Saxons' Germanic homeland, and metal fittings for boards of this type have been found from the Viking Age in Germany and Denmark. The only known surviving British example of a tabula board was found in Gloucester; dating to the eleventh century. The decorated bone plates that once covered the now rotted wooden board and the playing pieces, beautifully carved from bone and antler, and were originally decorated with paint, can be seen in the Gloucester city museum. Playing pieces suitable for this game are a more common find.<br />
<br />
====The rules====<br />
<br />
The actual rules used at the time are not known but it may have been played like this:<br />
<br />
15 white and 15 black (or red) pieces are used and three dice.<br />
<br />
The pieces are set up as shown on the drawing and moved in the directions indicated by the arrows.<br />
<br />
They are moved according to the number shown on the dice, each dice indicating a single turn. For instance if you throw a 5, a 4 and a 3 you can:<br />
<br />
* move one piece 5+4+3 steps forward<br />
* move one piece 5+4 and another 3 forward<br />
* move three pieces one by 5 one by 4 and one by 3.<br />
<br />
However, when the dice scores are combined you must be able to make each move separately, if you start to and find that you cannot because you are blocked by the other player's pieces the move is annulled and you loose that turn.<br />
<br />
The aim of the game, as in modern backgammon, is to move all your pieces to your 'home ground' and then off the board before your opponent can do so with theirs.<br />
<br />
If a piece is standing by itself it is unprotected and can be taken by the opposing piece. If two or more pieces are standing together the section is occupied, and the opponent can neither take a piece or place any of his own in that section. No more than 5 pieces may occupy the same section.<br />
<br />
A piece that has been taken, is considered as being placed behind the opponent's home ground and is moved from there onto the board according to modern rules.<br />
<br />
When a player has all his pieces placed on home ground he can start taking them off the board by one or more moves. To remove a piece from section three he must throw a three and so on but you may use a higher number to remove a piece if you have none of that number remaining on the board. The first to remove all remaining pieces is the winner.<br />
<br />
===Merels or Nine Men's Morris===<br />
<br />
From the earliest times (it was played even in ancient Egypt!) This game has been known as 'the game on the other side of the board'. Several boards found in both Viking and Anglo-Saxon contexts have had hnefatafl on one side and nine men's morris on the other. However the game has also been found rather unexpected places - ship's timbers, loose boards, benches, lumps of rock and, later, even on church pews and tiles.<br />
<br />
We do not know which of the 'tafl' names was used for this game, but the latin word merels is often used for this game just after Anglo-Saxon times. The name merels comes from the low latin word merrelus, meaning a 'token, counter or coin'.<br />
<br />
Nine men's morris is a simple game. The board is quickly made, and pieces could be any set of black (or red) and white stones, bones, etc., which could also be used for any other game.<br />
<br />
The game remains well known even today but we do not know the rules of the Viking or Anglo-Saxon version. It is indicated that a die may have been used. Perhaps only particular scores, for example - even numbers, gave the right to move. However the way it is played today is as follows:<br />
<br />
====The rules====<br />
<br />
The nine mens morris board is made up of three concentric squares connected by intersecting lines in the centre of each of the square's sides. Players start with nine pieces off the board. Each player takes it in turn to place one of his pieces on one of the intersections. If a player forms a line of three, one of the opposing pieces is removed from play by taking it off the board. Wherever possible the piece taken should not be taken from an existing line of three.<br />
<br />
When all pieces have been placed on the board, the players move the pieces around one intersection at a time. On completion of a line of three an opposing piece is taken as before. Forming a line of three is called forming a 'mill'. There is nothing to stop a player forming a mill, moving a piece away and then moving it back again in subsequent moves. Once a player is reduced to four pieces, they can 'fly', allowing them to move any of their pieces to any vacant spot on the board. The winner of the game is the player who removes seven of the opponent's pieces, thereby preventing them from forming a mill.<br />
<br />
A simpler version of nine mens morris is the game of 'three mens morris' familiar to most people today, albeit in a modified form, as 'noughts and crosses'. It is played in the same way as nine mens morris, except the board is made up of three lines of three positions (or on the intersections of a 2x2 section of a larger squared board). The winner is the first person to form a mill. Pieces may not move diagonally, or jump over other pieces. This may be the game known as hræðtafl('quick-tafl').<br />
<br />
===Halatafl===<br />
<br />
At Ballinderry in Ireland a little game board has been found with holes in place of squares and with the centre and corner positions clearly marked. Two notches on the board indicate a division between white and red pieces similar to modern solitaire. It is thought to be the halatafl known from the sagas. An alternative idea is that this could be used for a form of the game known as fox and geese or a 7x7 hnefatafl board or, indeed, all three.<br />
<br />
The Ockelbo stone from Sweden shows a board with the same markings at the centre and the corners and with four oblique lines. The special markings at the centre and corners may suggest that these squares were clear at the beginning of the game.<br />
<br />
====The rules====<br />
<br />
A set of rules for halatafl is as follows: The initial set up as in the image below - white and red have 22 identical 'men' set up on the board with 49 holes marked. The centre and corner holes are left empty.<br />
<br />
The pieces can be moved in two different ways; either they move one step at a time either forwards, sideways or diagonally along the marked lines, but never backward. Or they jump over a neighbouring piece to an empty hole behind it. They may proceed jumping as many times as possible in any direction or even backwards. The jump can be made over any piece - your own or your opponent's - and if you jump over one or more of your opponent's pieces they are taken and removed from the board.<br />
<br />
White opens the game by moving a piece onto the centre hole; red takes it by jumping over it and the game proceeds until one of the players has fewer than five pieces left - and loses.<br />
<br />
A jumping piece may make an intermediary landing at a corner hole. However no piece is allowed to stay there.<br />
<br />
===Chess and Draughts===<br />
<br />
Contrary to what many books say, neither chess or draughts were commonly played in the early medieval period. Chess did not become popular until brought back by Crusaders after the first Crusade (1096-99) and draughts was not played until much later in the Medieval period. The Lewis chessmen, although Viking, date to the mid twelfth century. However, recent excavations at Dublin and York have revealed playing pieces shaped like Arabic chess pieces, but with pre-Conquest style Scandinavian style decoration. It would not be strange if the Vikings, thanks to their contacts with the Arab world, learnt this game earlier than other Europeans, although this is just speculation. Chess certainly did not become popular or widespread until the twelfth century.<br />
<br />
===Knucklebones and Fivestones===<br />
<br />
A form of 'knucklebones' or 'fivestones' was played, probably the form where a number of small bones (usually pig or sheep knuckles) or stones are taken in the palm of the hand. The bones are then flicked in the air and the idea is to catch as many bones as possible on the back of the same hand. The winner is the player who catches most bones. Other versions of this game might include the version where one stone is taken in the palm of the hand whilst the others are left on the ground. The stone/bone on the hand is thrown into the air. Whilst it is in the air the player must pick up the stones/bones on the ground with the same hand and catch the thrown piece before it hits the ground. If the player succeeds with one piece in his hand, he moves onto two, then three, etc.. Another popular form of knucklebones would have been the game we now call 'pass the pig', although particular bones from a sheep's foot would have been used as playing pieces. This would have been a popular game to gamble on.<br />
<br />
==Riddling==<br />
<br />
One of the most popular games was riddling. A warrior was not considered to be up to much unless his word skill was as good as his weapon skills. Riddling was a good way of demonstrating this skill and many of the riddles of the time are full of double meanings which suggest two answers, one innocent, the other more 'raunchy'. These riddles could be anything from a one to a hundred lines long and sought to describe everyday objects in an unusual way. Part of the skill of riddling was to be able to construct the riddle using the correct 'poetic' conventions. Obviously, as well as the correct construction, it was important to make sure that the description given was not too obscure. Here are some actual Saxon riddles (Answers at end).<br />
<br />
===1===<br />
::I'm by nature solitary,<br />
::scarred by spear<br />
::and wounded by sword, weary of battle.<br />
::I frequently see the face of war, and fight<br />
::hateful enemies; yet I hold no hope<br />
::of help being brought to me in the battle,<br />
::before I'm eventually done to death.<br />
::In the stronghold of the city sharp-edged swords,<br />
::skillfully forged in the flame by smiths<br />
::bite deeply into me. I can but await<br />
::a more fearsome encounter; it is not for me<br />
::to discover in the city any of those doctors<br />
::who heal grievous wounds with roots and herbs.<br />
::The scars from sword wounds gape wider and wider<br />
::death blows are dealt me by day and by night.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Shield</ref><br />
<br />
===2===<br />
::I'm told a certain object grows<br />
::in the corner, rises and expands, throws up<br />
::a crust. A proud wife carried off<br />
::that boneless wonder, the daughter of a king<br />
::covered that swollen thing with a cloth.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Dough or Bread</ref><br />
<br />
===3===<br />
::Wob's my name if you work it out;<br />
::I'm a fair creature fashioned for battle<br />
::When I bend and shoot my deadly shaft<br />
::from my stomach, I desire only to send<br />
::that poison as far away as possible.<br />
::When my lord, who devised this torment for me,<br />
::releases my limbs, I become longer<br />
::and, bent upon slaughter, spit out<br />
::that deadly poison I swallowed before.<br />
::No man's parted easily from the object<br />
::I describe; if he's struck by what flies<br />
::from my stomach, he pays for its poison<br />
::with his strength - speedy atonement for his life<br />
::I'll serve no master when unstrung, only when<br />
::I'm cunningly nocked. Now guess my name.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Bow</ref><br />
<br />
===4===<br />
::On the way a miracle: water become bone.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Ice</ref><br />
<br />
===5===<br />
::Favoured by men, I am found far and wide,<br />
::taken from woods and the heights of the town,<br />
::From high and from low. during each day<br />
::bees brought me through the bright sky<br />
::skillfully home to a shelter. Soon after that<br />
::I was taken by men and bathed in a tub.<br />
::Now I blind them and chasten them, and cast<br />
::a young man at once to the ground,<br />
::and sometimes an old one too.<br />
::He who struggles against my strength,<br />
::he who dares grapple with me, discovers immediately<br />
::that he will hit the hard floor with his back<br />
::if he persists with such stupidity.<br />
::Deprived of his strength and strangely loquacious,<br />
::he's a fool, who rules neither his mind<br />
::nor his hands nor his feet.<br />
::Now ask me, my friends,<br />
::who knocks young men stupid,<br />
::and as his slave binds them<br />
::in broad waking daylight?<br />
::Yes ask me my name.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Mead</ref><br />
<br />
===6===<br />
::On earth there's a warrior of curious origin.<br />
::He's created, gleaming, by two dumb creatures<br />
::for the benefit of men. Foe bears him against foe<br />
::to inflict harm. Women often fetter him,<br />
::strong as he is. If maidens and men<br />
::care for him with due consideration<br />
::and feed him frequently, he'll faithfully obey them<br />
::and serve them well. Men succour him for the warmth<br />
::he offers in return; but this warrior will savage<br />
::anyone who permits him to become too proud.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Fire</ref><br />
<br />
===7===<br />
::The dank earth, wondrously cold,<br />
::first delivered me from her womb.<br />
::I know in my mind I wasn't made<br />
::from wool, skillfully fashioned with skeins.<br />
::Neither warp nor weft wind about me,<br />
::no thread thrums for me in the thrashing loom,<br />
::nor does a shuttle rattle for me,<br />
::nor does the weaver's rod bang and beat me.<br />
::Silkworms didn't spin with their strange craft for me,<br />
::those strange creatures that embroider cloth of gold.<br />
::Yet men will affirm all over this earth<br />
::that I am an excellent garment.<br />
::O wise man, weigh your words<br />
::well, and say what this object is.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Mail shirt</ref><br />
<br />
===8===<br />
::A woman, young and lovely, often locked me<br />
::in a chest; she took me out at times,<br />
::lifted me with fair hands and gave me<br />
::to her loyal lord, fulfilling his desire.<br />
::Then he stuck his head well inside me,<br />
::pushed it upwards into the smallest part.<br />
::It was my fate, adorned as I was, to be filled<br />
::with something rough if that person who possessed me<br />
::was virile enough. Now guess what I mean.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Helmet</ref><br />
<br />
<br />
===9===<br />
::A strange thing hangs by man's hip,<br />
::hidden by a garment. It has a hole<br />
::in its head. It is stiff and strong<br />
::and its firm bearing reaps a reward.<br />
::When the retainer hitches his clothing<br />
::high above his knee, he wants the head<br />
::of that hanging thing to find the old hole<br />
::that it, outstretched, has often filled before.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Key</ref><br />
<br />
===10===<br />
::I saw a creature: his stomach stuck out behind him,<br />
::enormously swollen. A stalwart servant<br />
::waited upon him. What filled his stomach<br />
::had travelled from afar, and flew through his eye.<br />
::He does not always die in giving life<br />
::to others, but new strength revives<br />
::in the pit of his stomach: he breathes again.<br />
::He fathers a son; he's his own father also.<br />
::<ref group="answer">Bellows</ref><br />
<br />
<br />
===Answers===<br />
<references group="answer"/><br />
<br />
<br />
''Original article by Ben Levick and Mark Beadle 1992''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Gamers1.gif&diff=5169File:Gamers1.gif2018-08-30T13:28:35Z<p>Admin: A game of Tabula in progress. By Roland Williamson.</p>
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<div>A game of Tabula in progress. By Roland Williamson.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Flora&diff=5168Flora2018-08-30T13:27:12Z<p>Admin: images</p>
<hr />
<div>The vast forested areas grew colossal numbers of trees such as hazel, oak, ash, beech, and many others. The condition of the soil in any one area would dictate the species of tree that inhabited those zones, in much the same way that they do today. Modern man's intervention and modification of the landscape has to a great extent affected what grew where and when. The elevation and rainfall or moistness of the soil are the greatest factors which control how well any one species will fair.<br />
<br />
A very detailed picture of how individual species of tree have survived the Saxons and Vikings comes form the work of Archeobotanists who study the levels of pollen that have settled in the soil. The soil is sampled via a corer that 'drills' out a soil sample that is an inch or two in diameter and a few feet long. From this samples can be extracted and examined microscopically to analyse what types of pollen have become trapped in the soil over time.<br />
<br />
Other types of analysis are self evident, as it takes only a little time to work out what timbers were used to make an object, thereby indicating what trees were in the local area. Even the impressions of grain from timber is enough to deduce what was originally. One example is the use of Hazel, which was one of the most used species for brooms and wattle as in 'wattle and daub' for house walls. Here, the vital ingredient that preserved the evidence was fire. At some point in the Anglo-Saxon period, a house caught fire and as you can imagine burnt the house quite literally to the ground. However, the fierce flames and the high temperatures fired the clay that surrounded the hazel wattling in the walls, preserving the information for at least a thousand years. From detail such as this, we can now say with confidence that the Saxons used whole hazel rods rather than split ones in the wattle, which differs from medieval practice.<br />
<br />
This evidence shows us that oak for buildings, furniture and ships; ash, field maple and alder used by the turner to make bowls, cups and spoons; ash for spear shafts; linden for shields; box for boxes and caskets; elm, ash and yew for bows and many more timbers besides were common materials, simply because they were on the doorstep. The reduction of such resource through use can be seen in the pollen record, especially as no-one was practising large scale re-planting programmes. Whilst the population wasn't huge, the creeping clearance can be identified. Even if the ground that the trees were felled from wasn't immediately ploughed, any small shoots of new trees were going to be eaten by livestock, thereby stifling any new regeneration of woods.<br />
<br />
In addition of timber, the oak and beech forests also provided mast pastures for the grazing of swine and were gleaned for nuts and berries at certain times of the year, as added sustenance for stretched resources over the winter period. Unlikely materials such as moss, gathered and used as insulation between walls and as 'toilet paper' came from the woods. In the early autumn months, fungi was collected, just as it was from the fields. This added yet more variety and nutritional diversity to the diet. A great deal of foodstuffs were dried and stored for the coming winter, to help ensure that as the months of February and March went by without yielding any new shoots, bulbs etc, there was always something put by.<br />
<br />
Some time after the woodland was cleared it was eventually possible to grow crops. Careful examination of pollen, cabonised grain from middens or fire places have shown that the Saxons were cultivating the same crops as their neighbours in Europe. These are wheat, oats, barley and rye. It is also thought that crops of peas and beans were cultivated, however, it is not clear if root crops like onion and carrot (a pale parsnip variety of carrot) were cultivated, or if they grew wild and were collected. The general view is that they may have been collected to begin with, although this would assume that the British peoples were gathering them at the time of the arrival of the Saxons, which is unlikely. Herbs such as wild garlic, sorrel and lamb's tounge grew wild but others like mint, mustard were also grown near the house for daily use. Wild fruit and berries were important too, as welcome additions in the autumn months.<br />
<br />
Almost every plant was used for some purpose. Crab apples were used as were sloes, rose hips and rowan berries. Bilberries, blackberries and strawberries were also eaten when available. Fungi not just eaten but used also for medicine, and probably for dyeing. The open moors and heaths were another source for other varieties of plants, especially berries, as well as providing areas for sheep and goat grazing. Heather from the moors was used for bedding, roofing, making brooms and for dyeing wool, just as much as for the sweet fragrence it gave off when crushed.<br />
<br />
From the marshes, fens and river-banks, rushes and reeds were harvested for use in thatching, with tons needed just for one dwelling. The rushes were employed in making woven baskets and mats. Reed tips provided good tinder and the hollow stems were cut to make musical whistles. Boggy areas also provided many medicinal herbs as did the roots of plants such as iris and flag that grew in the ponds and lakes.<br />
<br />
Many plants were used in medicine, in salves or balms, sometimes as infusions and poultices, or taken by mouth. These included; eyebright for eye infections, comfrey for healing broken bones, camomile for digestive illnesses, and the humble onion for making into a soup to be eaten by the hapless warrior for deep wounds to the stomach. This was really a simple test in as much that if you could smell the onions in the wound, then the wall of the stomach was cut, indicating that death was soon to follow. not a great deal of use really, but perhaps one that meant that remedies weren't wasted on the mortally wounded.<br />
<br />
Lots of leaves, roots, berries, bark and lichens were used for dying. 70% of all plants provide a yellow dye when boiled, although most were next to useless to actually dye with. The most well known and reliable of these is Weld, that grows best in disturbed ground. It is quite common to see it on the roadside today. Other specific plants will yield other colours. Woad being the most famous and was often cultivated for it's blue dye. Madder-root for the various reds (the leaves were also a useful abrasive), walnut hulls give a brown dye and alkanet shades of lilac, and these are only a few of the best examples.<br />
<br />
What is fairly safe to say is that building upon the knowledge of the multitudes of people who have inhabited this island, the Saxons and the Vikings were extremely aware of what properties the various plants and vegetation could be put to. This does not mean though that they knew why something was necessarily good for the user, or bad, however, just because they did not understand the mechanics of their actions meant that they were in some shape or form stupid. I am readily typing this to add to the world wide web, but I am clueless as to how this computer does what it does. So call me stupid.<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
Apple.gif|Apples<br />
Woad.gif|Woad (used for dying, producing a blue colour)<br />
Bilberry.gif|Bilberries<br />
Madder.gif|Madder (produces many hues of red, brown and orange)<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
<br />
''Original article by Roland Williamson 1999<br>Illustrations by Colin Levick''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Woad.gif&diff=5167File:Woad.gif2018-08-30T13:23:03Z<p>Admin: Woad (used for dying, producing a blue colour). By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Woad (used for dying, producing a blue colour). By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Madder.gif&diff=5166File:Madder.gif2018-08-30T13:22:44Z<p>Admin: Madder (produces many hues of red, brown and orange). By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Madder (produces many hues of red, brown and orange). By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Bilberry.gif&diff=5165File:Bilberry.gif2018-08-30T13:22:28Z<p>Admin: Bilberries. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Bilberries. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Apple.gif&diff=5164File:Apple.gif2018-08-30T13:22:10Z<p>Admin: Apples By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Apples By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Fauna&diff=5163Fauna2018-08-30T13:21:02Z<p>Admin: images and spelling corrections</p>
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<div>[[File:Oxcartwb.gif|thumb|left|To pull heavy loads oxen were employed]]<br />
The fauna of Anglo-Saxon England was plentiful and varied, and included some animals that have since been made extinct in this country. The vast areas of uninhabited forests, heaths and fells were home to many creatures, in addition to the other wild creatures that inhabited the towns and villages including the domestic animals.<br />
<br />
The animals that were kept domestically were much the same as today, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats and a few horses. These animals were generally smaller than their modern counterparts, particularly pigs which would have been dark skinned relatively long legged hairy animals similar to those kept today by some Central European peasant communities. Cattle were not unlike the Dexter breed, about 1-1.2m at the shoulder, lean and long legged. Sheep were also small and slim, like slightly larger versions of the Soay in the early period and becoming more like the smallest modern breeds by the end of the period. Sheep probably had more variety in the colour of their fleeces and nearly all would have had horns. Goats were also shorter versions of the feral goats of today and horses would have been much like modern Dales ponies or Icelandic Horses, not usually more than about 14 hands high.<br />
<br />
More varied varieties of hens and geese were kept for their meat and eggs. They may also have kept domestic ducks although it is difficult to tell the bones of a domestic duck from those of a large wild duck.<br />
<br />
Cats and dogs were also kept. The largest dogs were about the size of a Labrador or Alsatian and would have been used for hunting or as guard dogs. Other types of dogs were smaller, about the size of a modern collie. The value of a dog depended not only on the type of dog, but who it belonged to. Most dogs would have been mongrels of one sort or another, however the various traits of certain types of dog were already highly valued. In appearance, the dogs took a number of forms; retriever sized long muzzled hounds, heavily built greyhounds, border collies, alsatian crosses and some forms of 'lap dog', probably small mongrels. Cats were much the same as modern non pedigree cats. Bones of wildcats have also been found, probably having been hunted for their skins along side domestic cat skeletons that attest to the use of these cats purely for their fur. There are 'pagan' rites for healing that demand cat skin gloves. Cats also feature in the divorce laws of the period, with the divorced man being able to keep one cat and the divorced wife the rest - no doubt there was still some argument as to who got the best mouser, and who had the cutest lap cat. Dogs were carefully bred and tended whilst cats had less care and attention since many kitten bones have been found whereas very few puppy bones have turned up.<br />
<br />
Rats and mice also shared the peoples houses; the mice were the same as the modern house mouse, but the rats were the slightly smaller black rats, not the brown rats of modern cities. There were also many frogs (their bones turn up in houses, rubbish pits, back-yards and almost anywhere else as a result of trying to find places warm and damp enough for the winter). Wood-mice and shrews lived in the quieter parts of town along with foxes, stoats and weasles.<br />
<br />
Large amounts of rubbish in the streets and round buildings attracted scavenging birds such as gulls, buzzards, ravens and red kites when things were quiet. There were even a few white tailed eagles on the most scattered of settlements near the hills and coasts. Smaller birds such as pigeons, thrushes, jackdaws, robins and sparrows would also have been seen on a regular basis. The eaves and thatch of the houses would have supplied nesting sites for many birds such as wrens, swallows and martins, and also for bats in the older less well tended buildings.<br />
<br />
The rubbish also attracted beetles, flies, centipedes and millipedes. The timber buildings suffered from woodworm and supplied an ideal location for woodlice, spiders and wasps. Most people probably had a flea or two, bed-bugs etc; but probably got used to it and groomed each other to rid themselves of such friends.<br />
<br />
Outside the city walls, the fields would have supported birds such as starlings, rooks and crows, just as you can see today but in greater abundance. They would also be home to mice and voles and would have supported other unwanted creatures to the farmer such as hares. The advent of the Rabbit had yet to arrive. Interestingly enough, rabbits had come to Britain with the Romans, as can be seen from the bones in their rubbish pits. With the recall of the roman legions and the slow decay in the way of life that the Romans instituted, the rabbits disappear from the archaeological record. They are then re-introduced by the Normans from Spain, who farmed them in structures of earth called pillow mounds. Around these were wattle fences, and men to guard them. The guardians were there not to prevent them from escaping but to stop locals from helping themselves. It seems that the rabbit needs certain circumstances to survive, and one of these is a reduction in the population of predators, and open heath to live in. With the Normans cossetting their rabbits, and the slow clearance and demise of local predators, the rabbits future in Britain was assured.<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
Goose.gif|Geese were kept for their eggs and meat<br />
Hare.gif|Hares were small game that probably helped to supplement the diet<br />
Plover.gif|Plover<br />
Deer.gif|The forests were home to red deer<br />
Animals.gif|Many of animals kept domestically are the same as today<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
The forests were home to red deer, roe deer (but not fallow, they didn't arrive until the Normans), wild boar, wolves, a few bears, foxes, badgers and various small woodland creatures such as hedgehogs, martens and squirrels. Hollow trees would have been home to bats and owls. Forest birds included pigeons, jays, wood-peckers, sparrow hawks and goshawks. Other familiar woodland birds would also have been seen. Swarms of bees and wasps would also have nested in the forest.<br />
<br />
Moors and heaths would have supported populations of wild horses and cattle, hares, wild goats and smaller creatures like voles, snakes and lizards. Birds such as grouse, crows, quail, partridge, nightjars, cuckoos, shrikes, larks, pipits, merlins, harriers, kestrels and buzzards would all have been seen.<br />
<br />
Ravens and eagles nested in the hills along with peregrine falcons. The hills were also home to wolves, wild goats, wildcats and wild sheep. Many small creatures such as snakes, lizards, weasels and stoats would also live in the hills, and bats would have lived in cliff caves.<br />
<br />
The rivers, streams and lakes brimmed with fish. Otters and a few beavers swam in their waters, all being very wary of man as he trapped them. There were many water fowl such as ducks, geese, swans, heron, cranes, plovers, snipe and curlew, many of which would have been occasionally hunted for their meat. Osprey and fish eagles would also have been seen on the areas near the coasts. Around the rocky shores sea birds such as gulls, terns, cormorants, gannets and puffins nested in the cliffs and dunes. Seals, porpoises and whales swam in the sea along with many kinds of sea-fish. Shellfish such as oysters, mussels, cockles, winkles, whelks and crabs were collected for food from the estuaries and sea-shores.<br />
<br />
The issue of hunting is not as simple as it may first seem. Coastal communities would have made the most of sea bird eggs, sea weed, shellfish and other fauna that could be gathered. Obviously fish were caught, either trapped or hooked, and these activities are forms of hunting. In addition to fish, sea birds were also hunted and hooked. However, as you examine the more urban communities become, the less hunting for food is a part of the way of life for the people. From the middens, the bones of wild animals make up only a small percentage of the total bone waste created by butchering farm animals. The reasons for this are plain. Hunting is haphazard, even for the best of hunters, whereas farming is almost completely reliable. Most people could not afford the time and expense to go hunting and the larger animals needed a team of men to hunt, with the consequences of an accident being severe, especially with regards to hunting boar.<br />
<br />
<br />
''Original article by Roland Williamson 2000''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Oxcartwb.gif&diff=5162File:Oxcartwb.gif2018-08-30T13:18:21Z<p>Admin: To pull heavy loads oxen were employed. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>To pull heavy loads oxen were employed. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Plover.gif&diff=5161File:Plover.gif2018-08-30T13:18:02Z<p>Admin: Plover. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>Plover. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Hare.gif&diff=5160File:Hare.gif2018-08-30T13:17:50Z<p>Admin: Hare. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>Hare. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Animals.gif&diff=5159File:Animals.gif2018-08-30T13:17:39Z<p>Admin: Many of animals kept domestically are the same as today. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>Many of animals kept domestically are the same as today. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Deer.gif&diff=5158File:Deer.gif2018-08-30T13:17:13Z<p>Admin: Deer. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>Deer. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Goose.gif&diff=5157File:Goose.gif2018-08-30T13:17:02Z<p>Admin: Goose. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</p>
<hr />
<div>Goose. By Roland Williamson or Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Food_and_Drink&diff=5156Food and Drink2018-08-30T13:03:57Z<p>Admin: images</p>
<hr />
<div>==Fruit and Vegetables==<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
Sloe.gif|Sloe<br />
Garlic.gif|Garlic<br />
Carrot.gif|Carrot<br />
Cabbage.gif|Cabbage<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
When we visit the shops in England today, we are presented with a wealth of fruit and vegetables from all corners of the planet from which to choose. For people in this country in the tenth and eleventh century this could not happen. They had only such foods as could be cultivated seasonally or found wild. Exotic foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, pineapples - fruits and vegetables of the New World, were unknown here. Mediterranean fruits, such as lemons and oranges were, as far as we know, not imported, although we have documentary proof for the importation of such things as figs and grapes.<ref>Viking Age England, Julian Richards, p94.</ref><br />
<br />
We know that they grew wheat, rye, oats and barley. Wheat for bread, barley for brewing and oats for animal fodder and porridge. Along with these crops grew various weeds of cultivation - some of them poisonous. The harvesting methods made it difficult to separate the cereal from the weed, and many illnesses must have been caused in this way.<br />
<br />
It is known that they had carrots, but these were not the large, orange coloured vegetables that we are used to today. They were much closer to their wild ancestors - purplish red and small. 'Welsh carrots'; or parsnips were also available.<ref>S Pollington - 'Leechdom'.</ref> Cabbages were also of a wild variety, with smaller tougher leaves. They cultivated legumes such as peas and beans. Various 'wild'; roots were probably collected, such as burdock and rape. Onions and leeks were cultivated as flavourings and wild garlic may have been used.<br />
<br />
One way in which the people made up for the poor quality of these vegetables would have been to flavour them with native and imported herbs and spices. In Aelfric's Colloquy, the merchant speaks of importing spices, and in the Leechbooks, some imported spices are mentioned. Among them may have been ginger, cinnamon, cloves mace and pepper. We have no way of knowing how these spices were used , as the earliest recipe book only dates from the 14th century. Home grown herbs would have included coriander, dill, thyme, opium poppy and summer savoury.<ref>Eighth-Eleventh Century Economy and Environment in York in J Rackham Environment and Economy in A/S England. CBA Res Rep 89.</ref><br />
<br />
Many fruits were eaten and seeds from excavations tell us that they also had small apples (crab apples) plums, cherries and sloes. A large deposit of apple pips, from a pit in Gloucester probably points to the making of cider. These would have been sweetened with honey. Sugar was virtually unknown in the West of Europe, and at this period was used only as a medicine, as a laxative and for bladder disorders, for the kidneys and for eye disorders.<ref>Dangerous Tastes, the Story of Spices. Andrew Dalby.</ref> It does not. however, appear in any Anglo-Saxon Leechbooks.<br />
<br />
Honey was used to make a sweet alcoholic drink called mead, which was usually flavoured with some form of herb such as meadowsweet (O.E. meduwyrt - meaning mead plant). However, even today it is still not clear whether the mead they knew was no more than honey beer that we may encounter occasionally today. The confusion here lies with the fact that they refer to 'frothing horns of mead', and mead as we make it does not have a head to it. Barley was used to make beer which may have been flavoured with wild hops. Whether these were wild or cultivated is not known, but the Graveney boat, a 10th Century clinker built inshore trading boat may have been carrying a cargo which included hops up the Thames Estuary.<ref>The GraveneyBoat: a tenth century find from Kent. V Fenwick ed Brit Archaeol Re Brit Ser 53 Oxford 1978.</ref><br />
<br />
Wine was drunk, but this was generally imported although fruit wines may have been home-produced. There are also written references to 'apple-wine', probably a form of cider. Many fruit juices including apple, pear and plum were drunk as were herbal 'teas' and infusions. Whilst acorns are plentiful most years, they can only be eaten with sufficient preparation. There is no mention in the Anglo-Saxon record of them ever being used as a food stuff - with the closest instances of Oak 'products' being the leaves as a remedy in the Ormont fragment and the bark as an astringent in Bald's Leechbook. There may have been many instances where a needs must approach may have occurred which was not normal practice when food was in short supply. Evidence of such practices has been observed at sites where grain was used for bread production, but the bulk inclusion of random grass seeds suggests that the flour was being padded out - either to make it stretch further because there was actually little wheat, or simply because someone was being ripped off.<br />
<br />
Spirits and fortified wines were not known although the apple wine may have had quite a high alcohol content.<br />
<br />
==Fish==<br />
<gallery><br />
Fish1.gif|Top to bottom: herring, salmon, eel and perch<br />
Fish2.gif|Top: pike; bottom: plaice<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
We know about the fish that were eaten in the period from bones which have been found during archaeological excavations. Some bones have been found whilst digging was being carried out, but most need soil samples to be washed through fine meshed sieves back in the laboratory. Some bones come from toilet pits and appear to have been chewed up before being swallowed. It has been possible to discover what kinds of fish were eaten by comparing the bones with those of fish today.<br />
<br />
Evidence shows a variety of fish were eaten - herring, salmon and eel as well as some which are not eaten much today such as pike, perch and roach. They seem to have also eaten flounder, whiting, plaice, cod and brown trout too. Shellfish, especially oysters, mussels and cockles, seem to have formed part of many peoples diets. Fish was eaten fresh, but was also preserved for less plentiful times of year. This was done by salting, pickling, smoking and drying.<br />
<br />
How were fish caught? In Ælfric's Colloquy the [[Fishing in Early Mediaeval Times |fisherman]] explains his craft:<br />
Master: How do you catch the Fish?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': I board my boat and cast my net into the river; and throw in a hook and bait and baskets; and whatever I catch I take.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': What if the fish are unclean?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': I throw the unclean ones away, and take the clean ones for food.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Where do you sell your fish?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': In the city.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Who buys them?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': The citizens. I can't catch as many as I can sell.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Which fish do you catch?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Eels and pike, minnows and turbot, trout and lampreys and whatever swims in the water. Small fish.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why don't you fish in the sea?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Sometimes I do, but rarely, because it is a lot of rowing for me to the sea.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': What do you catch in the sea?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Herrings and salmon, porpoises and sturgeon, oysters and crabs, mussels, winkles, cockles, plaice and flounders and lobsters, and many similar things.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Would you like to catch a whale?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Not me!<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Because it is a risky business catching a whale. It's safer for me to go on the river with my boat, than to go hunting whales with many boats.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why so?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Because I prefer to catch a fish that I can kill, rather than a fish that can sink or kill not only me but also my companions with a single blow.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Nevertheless, many catch whales and escape danger, and make great profit by it.<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': You are right, but I dare not because of my timid spirit.<br />
<br />
It seems that river fish were caught in nets, hunted with fish-spears or even caught in wicker traps. Large sea fish were caught in nets which floated below the surface of the sea and others were caught with hooks and lines. Whales and dolphins were also hunted for their meat, as well as other useful products such as whalebone and fat. Interestingly enough, as porpoise were considered to be a fish, they were acceptable fare during Lent.<br />
<br />
==Meat==<br />
<br />
[[File:Butch01a.jpg|thumb|left|A deer being skinned prior to being butchered]]<br />
Most [[fauna|meat]] eaten by the Saxons came from animals which had more than one use. Sheep were kept for their wool and meat, cows for their milk, sinews and hides. The horn was used for fastenings, drinking vessels and had many other uses. The hide of a bull was as valuable for its leather as the meat. Even the bone was used for belt ends, needles, knife handles, pins for hair and clothing and even for ice skates! Goats were kept for their milk and meat. Only pigs seem to have been raised purely for their meat. It is not clear whether horses were killed for meat or kept purely as riding animals and beasts of burden. The act of eating horse meat became very much frowned upon, and was regarded as a pagan thing to do, so much so that laws were passed to prevent the habit. Although during times of famine, as occurs today, almost anything is game.<br />
<br />
[[File:Butch02.jpg|thumb|right|Pork in the process of being made into joints]]<br />
Pigs were important for food because they produce large litters, which would quickly mature and be ready for slaughter. However, the numbers of pigs kept gradually decreases throughout the Saxon period. Remains of pigs of all sizes have been found suggesting they were killed as and when they were needed, rather than at set times of the year.<br />
<br />
Cows produce ten times more meat than sheep or goats and beef production grew increasingly important as pig numbers decreased. Most adult cattle were female, suggesting dairying was also important.<br />
<br />
Sheep and goats always accounted for about 50% of the livestock and are ideal animals, as they can be grazed on land that is unsuitable for cattle and pigs, and they are a multipurpose animal. The sheep were generally similar to the Soay breed, but were larger although a sheep similar to a small Romney Marsh sheep was also kept. A high proportion were killed when young and a large number of these were female. Most adult sheep were wethers (castrated rams) raised mainly for wool. The goats were probably similar to feral goats. The exact proportion of sheep to goats is unknown since it is not easy to distinguish between sheep and goats from skeletal evidence.<br />
<br />
Hens, of course, provided eggs as well as meat for the pot, as did ducks and geese. Their hollow bones were used for musical pipes. Various wild birds were eaten too, such as ducks, plover, grouse, herons and geese. Hares were also caught (there were no rabbits until after the Norman Conquest). Deer were hunted for meat, skins and antler. Wild boar would also be hunted for their meat, with their tusks being an important prize for the hunter.<br />
<br />
==Cooking==<br />
<br />
Most meals would have been some form of stew, soup or pottage cooked in a cauldron over the central hearth of the house. Bread, baked in a clay oven or on a griddle, would also be a daily foodstuff. Flour could be ground at a water mill although more usually it would be done in the home using a hand [[Stone Working|quern]]. Wealthier people would have been able to afford an imported rotary quern from the Rhineland. When the flour is freshly querned from recently cut grain, little yeast is necessary to be added to the dough as there is a reasonable yeast content in fresh grain.<br />
<br />
Most of the time, especially amongst the poor, meat would only be used in small quantities to give extra flavour. This did not mean that Saxons were vegetarians, in fact they would eat as much meat as they could afford to. The wealthier a person was, the more often meat would figure in their diets.<br />
<br />
The vegetables used in cooking would have been those that were in season at the time, although some may have been preserved by drying or pickling. Similarly, meat would have been used more in summer and autumn when domestic animals were killed and game was more readily available, although pigs, sheep and cattle were killed during the winter to provide fresh meat and save too much depletion of winter fodder. When the animals, especially pigs, were killed the blood was probably collected to make a form of black pudding. This is made by stirring the blood until it is cool to stop it congealing and then adding flour and herbs. The animal fat was used both for cooking and to make tallow for lamps and dubbin. Meat was preserved by salting and smoking and some may have been dried. No doubt herbs and spices were used to disguise the unpleasant taste that these may have had. Fish as was said earlier could be preserved by salting, smoking, pickling or simply drying.<br />
<br />
Milk would have been used to make butter and cheese, especially sheep's and goat's milk. Eggs from chickens, ducks and geese would also have been eaten although the fowl of the period would not have laid as often as their modern counterparts.<br />
<br />
One of the most important foodstuffs was honey as this was the only sweetener available. A good hive could produce about 100lbs of honey in a year. (A family of 6 would require about 1/2lb honey per day.) Sweet foods like honey and almond cakes were popular, but usually not an everyday foodstuff. There is some suggestion that gingerbread and cheeseckes may have been fare on the Anglo-Saxon table, but the only references that still exist imply that these are introductions that occur later in our history. Sugar, whilst used in North Africa, was not much used in Europe. If it ever found it's way to Britain, it makes one wonder what it may have looked like by the time it reached our damp shores.......<br />
<br />
Other methods of cooking used included; frying in a frying pan or griddle (similar to a chestnut roaster), baking in a clay or turf oven, grilling on a spiral griddle, hanging griddle or on a 'barbecue' (similar to that shown on the Bayeux Tapestry). Spit roasting was done on a large rotary spit or using small skewers like a kebab skewer or food could even be baked in the embers of a fire usually wrapped in leaves and clay. By and large though, food was almost always boiled in a cauldron or baked in the embers of a fire usually wrapped in leaves and clay, as it was a more economic way of providing well cooked nutritious meals.<br />
<br />
Specific evidence for banquets and feasts comes from the court of Charlemagne where he is described as being served 'in four courses only, exclusive of the roast, which hunters brought in on spits'.<ref>Eginhard 'Early Lives of Charlemagne' Ed A J Grant.</ref><br />
<br />
As to whether Charlemagne was being deliberately restrained is unknown. Some experts believe that later in the period, banquets and religious feasts held by the nobility (and sometimes the lower ranks too), would have as many as ten or twelve courses/dishes, although each course was fairly small. Fish and meat would make up several of the courses, although some courses would be purely vegetable. Much alcoholic drink was also served at banquets. There is some suggestion that the finds of large cauldrons from a variety of sites were almost always used for brewing beer, and not for cooking porridge etc; indicating the status of such beverages in their society. An honoured guest would be served drink by the banquet giver's wife and/or daughter or the banquet host if they happened to be a woman.<br />
<br />
Food was eaten from wooden or clay bowls using only a knife and spoon (forks do not seem to have been used for eating until much later in the medieval period). There are however Scandinavian finds of pointed 'food sticks' made of wood or bone which may have been used for picking up pieces of meat and larger vegetables. [[Woodworking|Wooden]] plates were used for some food although [[Pottery|pottery]] ones are very rare. Drinking vessels were made from a variety of materials in a number of styles. The commonest would have been wooden or pottery cups and mugs. Horns (often highly decorated) were also used and conical [[Glass and Amber|glass]] vessels were used in the early period, but were rare, giving way to glass vessels shaped more like beakers that we have today. Small wooden cups were used for very strong drinks. Leather was also used for drinking vessels although there is little evidence of this other than a passage in Ælfrics Colloquy. There is no evidence for drinking vessels with handles ever being used. Drinks were served from pottery jugs and pitchers or from bottles made of wood, clay or leather. Wooden tubs and ladles were probably used for serving drinks, some of which were served hot.<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
<br />
''Original article by Ben Levick, 1992<br>Revised by Hazel Uzzell, 2001''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Butch02.jpg&diff=5155File:Butch02.jpg2018-08-30T13:03:10Z<p>Admin: Pork in the process of being made into joints</p>
<hr />
<div>Pork in the process of being made into joints</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Butch01a.jpg&diff=5154File:Butch01a.jpg2018-08-30T13:02:22Z<p>Admin: A deer being skinned prior to being butchered</p>
<hr />
<div>A deer being skinned prior to being butchered</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Fish1.gif&diff=5153File:Fish1.gif2018-08-30T13:01:51Z<p>Admin: Top to Bottom herring, salmon, eel and perch</p>
<hr />
<div>Top to Bottom herring, salmon, eel and perch</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Fish2.gif&diff=5152File:Fish2.gif2018-08-30T13:01:34Z<p>Admin: Top: pike
Bottom: plaice</p>
<hr />
<div>Top: pike<br />
Bottom: plaice</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Food_and_Drink&diff=5151Food and Drink2018-08-30T13:00:03Z<p>Admin: /* Fruit and Vegetables */ Images</p>
<hr />
<div>==Fruit and Vegetables==<br />
<br />
<gallery><br />
Sloe.gif|Sloe<br />
Garlic.gif|Garlic<br />
Carrot.gif|Carrot<br />
Cabbage.gif|Cabbage<br />
</gallery><br />
<br />
When we visit the shops in England today, we are presented with a wealth of fruit and vegetables from all corners of the planet from which to choose. For people in this country in the tenth and eleventh century this could not happen. They had only such foods as could be cultivated seasonally or found wild. Exotic foods such as potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, pineapples - fruits and vegetables of the New World, were unknown here. Mediterranean fruits, such as lemons and oranges were, as far as we know, not imported, although we have documentary proof for the importation of such things as figs and grapes.<ref>Viking Age England, Julian Richards, p94.</ref><br />
<br />
We know that they grew wheat, rye, oats and barley. Wheat for bread, barley for brewing and oats for animal fodder and porridge. Along with these crops grew various weeds of cultivation - some of them poisonous. The harvesting methods made it difficult to separate the cereal from the weed, and many illnesses must have been caused in this way.<br />
<br />
It is known that they had carrots, but these were not the large, orange coloured vegetables that we are used to today. They were much closer to their wild ancestors - purplish red and small. 'Welsh carrots'; or parsnips were also available.<ref>S Pollington - 'Leechdom'.</ref> Cabbages were also of a wild variety, with smaller tougher leaves. They cultivated legumes such as peas and beans. Various 'wild'; roots were probably collected, such as burdock and rape. Onions and leeks were cultivated as flavourings and wild garlic may have been used.<br />
<br />
One way in which the people made up for the poor quality of these vegetables would have been to flavour them with native and imported herbs and spices. In Aelfric's Colloquy, the merchant speaks of importing spices, and in the Leechbooks, some imported spices are mentioned. Among them may have been ginger, cinnamon, cloves mace and pepper. We have no way of knowing how these spices were used , as the earliest recipe book only dates from the 14th century. Home grown herbs would have included coriander, dill, thyme, opium poppy and summer savoury.<ref>Eighth-Eleventh Century Economy and Environment in York in J Rackham Environment and Economy in A/S England. CBA Res Rep 89.</ref><br />
<br />
Many fruits were eaten and seeds from excavations tell us that they also had small apples (crab apples) plums, cherries and sloes. A large deposit of apple pips, from a pit in Gloucester probably points to the making of cider. These would have been sweetened with honey. Sugar was virtually unknown in the West of Europe, and at this period was used only as a medicine, as a laxative and for bladder disorders, for the kidneys and for eye disorders.<ref>Dangerous Tastes, the Story of Spices. Andrew Dalby.</ref> It does not. however, appear in any Anglo-Saxon Leechbooks.<br />
<br />
Honey was used to make a sweet alcoholic drink called mead, which was usually flavoured with some form of herb such as meadowsweet (O.E. meduwyrt - meaning mead plant). However, even today it is still not clear whether the mead they knew was no more than honey beer that we may encounter occasionally today. The confusion here lies with the fact that they refer to 'frothing horns of mead', and mead as we make it does not have a head to it. Barley was used to make beer which may have been flavoured with wild hops. Whether these were wild or cultivated is not known, but the Graveney boat, a 10th Century clinker built inshore trading boat may have been carrying a cargo which included hops up the Thames Estuary.<ref>The GraveneyBoat: a tenth century find from Kent. V Fenwick ed Brit Archaeol Re Brit Ser 53 Oxford 1978.</ref><br />
<br />
Wine was drunk, but this was generally imported although fruit wines may have been home-produced. There are also written references to 'apple-wine', probably a form of cider. Many fruit juices including apple, pear and plum were drunk as were herbal 'teas' and infusions. Whilst acorns are plentiful most years, they can only be eaten with sufficient preparation. There is no mention in the Anglo-Saxon record of them ever being used as a food stuff - with the closest instances of Oak 'products' being the leaves as a remedy in the Ormont fragment and the bark as an astringent in Bald's Leechbook. There may have been many instances where a needs must approach may have occurred which was not normal practice when food was in short supply. Evidence of such practices has been observed at sites where grain was used for bread production, but the bulk inclusion of random grass seeds suggests that the flour was being padded out - either to make it stretch further because there was actually little wheat, or simply because someone was being ripped off.<br />
<br />
Spirits and fortified wines were not known although the apple wine may have had quite a high alcohol content.<br />
<br />
==Fish==<br />
<br />
We know about the fish that were eaten in the period from bones which have been found during archaeological excavations. Some bones have been found whilst digging was being carried out, but most need soil samples to be washed through fine meshed sieves back in the laboratory. Some bones come from toilet pits and appear to have been chewed up before being swallowed. It has been possible to discover what kinds of fish were eaten by comparing the bones with those of fish today.<br />
<br />
Evidence shows a variety of fish were eaten - herring, salmon and eel as well as some which are not eaten much today such as pike, perch and roach. They seem to have also eaten flounder, whiting, plaice, cod and brown trout too. Shellfish, especially oysters, mussels and cockles, seem to have formed part of many peoples diets. Fish was eaten fresh, but was also preserved for less plentiful times of year. This was done by salting, pickling, smoking and drying.<br />
<br />
How were fish caught? In Ælfric's Colloquy the [[Fishing in Early Mediaeval Times |fisherman]] explains his craft:<br />
Master: How do you catch the Fish?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': I board my boat and cast my net into the river; and throw in a hook and bait and baskets; and whatever I catch I take.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': What if the fish are unclean?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': I throw the unclean ones away, and take the clean ones for food.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Where do you sell your fish?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': In the city.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Who buys them?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': The citizens. I can't catch as many as I can sell.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Which fish do you catch?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Eels and pike, minnows and turbot, trout and lampreys and whatever swims in the water. Small fish.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why don't you fish in the sea?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Sometimes I do, but rarely, because it is a lot of rowing for me to the sea.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': What do you catch in the sea?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Herrings and salmon, porpoises and sturgeon, oysters and crabs, mussels, winkles, cockles, plaice and flounders and lobsters, and many similar things.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Would you like to catch a whale?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Not me!<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Because it is a risky business catching a whale. It's safer for me to go on the river with my boat, than to go hunting whales with many boats.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Why so?<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': Because I prefer to catch a fish that I can kill, rather than a fish that can sink or kill not only me but also my companions with a single blow.<br />
<br />
'''Master''': Nevertheless, many catch whales and escape danger, and make great profit by it.<br />
<br />
'''Fisherman''': You are right, but I dare not because of my timid spirit.<br />
<br />
It seems that river fish were caught in nets, hunted with fish-spears or even caught in wicker traps. Large sea fish were caught in nets which floated below the surface of the sea and others were caught with hooks and lines. Whales and dolphins were also hunted for their meat, as well as other useful products such as whalebone and fat. Interestingly enough, as porpoise were considered to be a fish, they were acceptable fare during Lent.<br />
<br />
==Meat==<br />
<br />
Most [[fauna|meat]] eaten by the Saxons came from animals which had more than one use. Sheep were kept for their wool and meat, cows for their milk, sinews and hides. The horn was used for fastenings, drinking vessels and had many other uses. The hide of a bull was as valuable for its leather as the meat. Even the bone was used for belt ends, needles, knife handles, pins for hair and clothing and even for ice skates! Goats were kept for their milk and meat. Only pigs seem to have been raised purely for their meat. It is not clear whether horses were killed for meat or kept purely as riding animals and beasts of burden. The act of eating horse meat became very much frowned upon, and was regarded as a pagan thing to do, so much so that laws were passed to prevent the habit. Although during times of famine, as occurs today, almost anything is game.<br />
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Pigs were important for food because they produce large litters, which would quickly mature and be ready for slaughter. However, the numbers of pigs kept gradually decreases throughout the Saxon period. Remains of pigs of all sizes have been found suggesting they were killed as and when they were needed, rather than at set times of the year.<br />
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Cows produce ten times more meat than sheep or goats and beef production grew increasingly important as pig numbers decreased. Most adult cattle were female, suggesting dairying was also important.<br />
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Sheep and goats always accounted for about 50% of the livestock and are ideal animals, as they can be grazed on land that is unsuitable for cattle and pigs, and they are a multipurpose animal. The sheep were generally similar to the Soay breed, but were larger although a sheep similar to a small Romney Marsh sheep was also kept. A high proportion were killed when young and a large number of these were female. Most adult sheep were wethers (castrated rams) raised mainly for wool. The goats were probably similar to feral goats. The exact proportion of sheep to goats is unknown since it is not easy to distinguish between sheep and goats from skeletal evidence.<br />
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Hens, of course, provided eggs as well as meat for the pot, as did ducks and geese. Their hollow bones were used for musical pipes. Various wild birds were eaten too, such as ducks, plover, grouse, herons and geese. Hares were also caught (there were no rabbits until after the Norman Conquest). Deer were hunted for meat, skins and antler. Wild boar would also be hunted for their meat, with their tusks being an important prize for the hunter.<br />
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==Cooking==<br />
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Most meals would have been some form of stew, soup or pottage cooked in a cauldron over the central hearth of the house. Bread, baked in a clay oven or on a griddle, would also be a daily foodstuff. Flour could be ground at a water mill although more usually it would be done in the home using a hand [[Stone Working|quern]]. Wealthier people would have been able to afford an imported rotary quern from the Rhineland. When the flour is freshly querned from recently cut grain, little yeast is necessary to be added to the dough as there is a reasonable yeast content in fresh grain.<br />
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Most of the time, especially amongst the poor, meat would only be used in small quantities to give extra flavour. This did not mean that Saxons were vegetarians, in fact they would eat as much meat as they could afford to. The wealthier a person was, the more often meat would figure in their diets.<br />
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The vegetables used in cooking would have been those that were in season at the time, although some may have been preserved by drying or pickling. Similarly, meat would have been used more in summer and autumn when domestic animals were killed and game was more readily available, although pigs, sheep and cattle were killed during the winter to provide fresh meat and save too much depletion of winter fodder. When the animals, especially pigs, were killed the blood was probably collected to make a form of black pudding. This is made by stirring the blood until it is cool to stop it congealing and then adding flour and herbs. The animal fat was used both for cooking and to make tallow for lamps and dubbin. Meat was preserved by salting and smoking and some may have been dried. No doubt herbs and spices were used to disguise the unpleasant taste that these may have had. Fish as was said earlier could be preserved by salting, smoking, pickling or simply drying.<br />
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Milk would have been used to make butter and cheese, especially sheep's and goat's milk. Eggs from chickens, ducks and geese would also have been eaten although the fowl of the period would not have laid as often as their modern counterparts.<br />
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One of the most important foodstuffs was honey as this was the only sweetener available. A good hive could produce about 100lbs of honey in a year. (A family of 6 would require about 1/2lb honey per day.) Sweet foods like honey and almond cakes were popular, but usually not an everyday foodstuff. There is some suggestion that gingerbread and cheeseckes may have been fare on the Anglo-Saxon table, but the only references that still exist imply that these are introductions that occur later in our history. Sugar, whilst used in North Africa, was not much used in Europe. If it ever found it's way to Britain, it makes one wonder what it may have looked like by the time it reached our damp shores.......<br />
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Other methods of cooking used included; frying in a frying pan or griddle (similar to a chestnut roaster), baking in a clay or turf oven, grilling on a spiral griddle, hanging griddle or on a 'barbecue' (similar to that shown on the Bayeux Tapestry). Spit roasting was done on a large rotary spit or using small skewers like a kebab skewer or food could even be baked in the embers of a fire usually wrapped in leaves and clay. By and large though, food was almost always boiled in a cauldron or baked in the embers of a fire usually wrapped in leaves and clay, as it was a more economic way of providing well cooked nutritious meals.<br />
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Specific evidence for banquets and feasts comes from the court of Charlemagne where he is described as being served 'in four courses only, exclusive of the roast, which hunters brought in on spits'.<ref>Eginhard 'Early Lives of Charlemagne' Ed A J Grant.</ref><br />
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As to whether Charlemagne was being deliberately restrained is unknown. Some experts believe that later in the period, banquets and religious feasts held by the nobility (and sometimes the lower ranks too), would have as many as ten or twelve courses/dishes, although each course was fairly small. Fish and meat would make up several of the courses, although some courses would be purely vegetable. Much alcoholic drink was also served at banquets. There is some suggestion that the finds of large cauldrons from a variety of sites were almost always used for brewing beer, and not for cooking porridge etc; indicating the status of such beverages in their society. An honoured guest would be served drink by the banquet giver's wife and/or daughter or the banquet host if they happened to be a woman.<br />
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Food was eaten from wooden or clay bowls using only a knife and spoon (forks do not seem to have been used for eating until much later in the medieval period). There are however Scandinavian finds of pointed 'food sticks' made of wood or bone which may have been used for picking up pieces of meat and larger vegetables. [[Woodworking|Wooden]] plates were used for some food although [[Pottery|pottery]] ones are very rare. Drinking vessels were made from a variety of materials in a number of styles. The commonest would have been wooden or pottery cups and mugs. Horns (often highly decorated) were also used and conical [[Glass and Amber|glass]] vessels were used in the early period, but were rare, giving way to glass vessels shaped more like beakers that we have today. Small wooden cups were used for very strong drinks. Leather was also used for drinking vessels although there is little evidence of this other than a passage in Ælfrics Colloquy. There is no evidence for drinking vessels with handles ever being used. Drinks were served from pottery jugs and pitchers or from bottles made of wood, clay or leather. Wooden tubs and ladles were probably used for serving drinks, some of which were served hot.<br />
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==References==<br />
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<references /><br />
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''Original article by Ben Levick, 1992<br>Revised by Hazel Uzzell, 2001''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Carrot.gif&diff=5150File:Carrot.gif2018-08-30T12:59:26Z<p>Admin: Carrot</p>
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<div>The British Isles has large and diverse areas of clay that are suitable to make pottery. Broadly speaking, the area diagonally south of York and down to Cheshire has in various places clay deposits that are close to the surface. This enabled people from much, much earlier times and up to the Viking period to dig clay for pottery without having to go too deep. Clay is very heavy, and difficult to dig out. The rest of Britain by and large had to make do with 'costly' imports that could have come from a few miles down the road, or possibly several days travel away. Their only other alternatives were wooden vessels, or in other more remote areas, 'soft' soap-stone containers.<br />
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Pottery was a very important method of producing cheap cooking pots, bowls, cups, lamps, bottles, jugs, etc.. It was also used for loom-weights, crucibles and moulds. In early pagan Anglo-Saxon times pottery 'urns' were used to hold ashes of people who had died and been cremated. These were then often buried in small 'barrows'. Many of these cremation urns were highly decorated. The vast majority of the early pottery though was simply made, probably within the village or on the farm, using methods such as coiling or making thumb-pots. Later on, as shown by excavated examples, there were specialist potters who made wheel thrown pottery in towns. This was then sold by the potter, or possibly by travelling merchants in the markets, although some pottery would still be home produced.<br />
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Throughout the period pottery was also imported, especially from the Rhineland because of it's decorative nature. Pots that have survived show that ceramics of the period were often decorated by rouletting, thumbing, incising, combing, stamping or by applying clay to the surface. Sometimes the pottery was glazed with simple glazes, most often of yellow or olive green (the technique of glazing appears to have been reintroduced from the Byzantine countries through France). Other pottery was decorated with a red paint or slip in the continental style.<br />
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The pots were used for a variety of purposes, some for storage, some for cooking and some for eating and drinking from. Bowls would have been used for storage as well as cooking, eating and serving. Cups were generally in the form of handle-less beakers.<br />
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==Making Pottery==<br />
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[[File:Potterystamp.gif|thumb|left|An antler decorative stamp]]<br />
A potter's tools were fairly simple. An animal rib or flat piece of wood for shaping the pot when throwing, knives for trimming, antler tines for piercing for spouts and bungs, perhaps a number of sheep's tibiae and metapodials (elements of the bones in the foot of the animal), as templates for rim profiles. Some carved bone and antler stamps were used with rouletting wheels for decorating the pottery.<br />
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[[File:Potterswheel1.gif|thumb|right|A manuscript image of a potters wheel]]<br />
Evidence would suggest that after about 900AD the potter's wheel as we would recognise it came back into fashion. The type of potter's wheel probably varied, anything from a small turn-table (slow wheel) to a large kick wheel. Two kinds of fast wheel may have been used. The first and most likely type to have been used in the Saxon period, is basically a cartwheel mounted horizontally on a pivot, the wheel being rotated by hand or with a stick. The pot was thrown on a disc or small platform fixed to the centre or nave of the wheel. The other type consisted of a lower wheel turned with the foot and an upper wheel head for throwing the pot, the two wheels being connected by a series of struts.<br />
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To make clay good enough for a pot, the Saxon potter would have to put in some back-breaking graft. After unearthing a large amount of clay, he would take his raw material, steep it in water and then beat it, usually with a large wooden 'spatula' until it was well mixed, although some potters may have worked it by treading it with bare feet. He would then remove any large stones and gravel from it. Next, he would carefully mix sand, crushed shell, grass, or even crushed pottery from broken fired pots in with it to help bind it together. Then he would have to wage it (knead it like bread), to ensure it was thoroughly mixed. The clay at this point would have to be made pliant enough by the addition of water or be left to dry some more. The potter would then take a ball of this clay of the correct size and consistency for the item he was making. This clay was formed into a pot, mainly by building it up from layers of rings which are smoothed together by hand (coiling) or, by about AD 900, on a wheel. Other methods may have included paddle and anvil techniques, with a pebble and spatula, thumb pots and moulding over wooden moulds (this method was often used to make crucibles).<br />
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The item would then be left to dry gently. Features such as handles and spouts were usually added to the vessel when it had dried to a 'leather' hardness, or was firm enough not to distort when being handled. The simplest, and commonest, form of spout is the pinched spout made by pulling out the rim from inside with one finger whilst supporting the rim in position on the outside with two fingers. In this case this was done when the pot was first made. Tubular spouts were made either by throwing a small cylindrical shape, or by moulding clay around a forefinger, stick or bone. This was then smoothed onto the outside of the vessel once a hole had been made. Handles would be made by throwing, pulling or rolling out, and also applied by smoothing onto the outside of the pot. At this stage the bottom of the pot might be trimmed with a knife to give the familiar 'saggy bottom'. The 'saggy bottom' was we believe better for cooking with, as it helped to even out the differences of temperature in a cooking fire, which could easily crack a pot. Floors of the period weren't very flat themselves, so rounded bottom pots really didn't matter.<br />
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The container could then be worked over with a damp cloth or wet hands, which brings the finest clay particles to the surface, giving a smooth finish. The inside of the pot could also be burnished with a smooth pebble or bone to smear the clay particles over each other producing a more water tight vessel. It could also be decorated by painting with a slip (a creamy mixture of fine clay and water) of a different colour to the body. Sometimes slip painting amounted simply to vertical stripes of slip, sometimes it took the form of scrolls and swirls. Glazes were almost universally lead based, giving a greeny yellow colour, although copper or iron could be added to change the colour or add speckles of a different colour. These were added to the pot after an initial firing. The glaze could have been applied as a dry powder, although most was applied as a water based paste. Liquid glazes could be applied to the leather hard pot with a brush or by hand smearing, which accounts for the uneven thickness of many of the glazes from this period. The pot could also be dipped in a bath of glaze. It was then left to finally dry before it was fired to make it hard.<br />
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In the early period the pots were fired in a covered fire pit called a clamp. This did not always reach a very high temperature so the pots often did not fire very well. The fire that was built over the pots excluded most of the oxygen which fired the pottery black or charcoal-grey. By the later period firing was done in a simple kiln which was easier to control, guaranteeing a better and more even firing.<br />
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In order to make a kiln the potter dug two shallow pits, one of them with a semi-permanent wall of clay or stone (sometimes insulated with earth or turf) with a simple domed roof built over it, possibly just of turf, but sometimes of clay. (Turf is fine for a single firing, but if it becomes too roasted, breaks down into sand and minerals which just don't hold together). This one became the kiln and was joined to the other pit by a small opening. The pots were stacked in the kiln, generally upside-down, sometimes one inside another, whichever way they packed most tightly. The loading could be done through the top of the<br />
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[[File:Kiln.gif|thumb|left|A cross section of an idealised turf covered pottery kiln before it was sealed or through the flue/door opening]]<br />
The kiln was then sealed with wet clay leaving just the opening between the pits and a small flue opening. Some kilns had a raised central floor on which more pots were stacked, which allowed the hot air to circulate around the pots better. A hot fire was then built in the second pit in front of the opening. The potter would keep adding fuel slowly until the temperature was high enough to fire the pots, gauging its 'readiness' by the degree of luminosity of the items which glow whilst being fired. When this temperature had been reached the potter let the kiln cool down (sometimes for a whole day) until it was cool enough to remove the pots. Most would be hard and ready for use although some would have cracked if the clay and sand or shell had not been correctly mixed. With maintenance, a kiln of this type might last from five to ten years.<br />
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By the tenth century there were several major pottery centres in England which exported their wares throughout the country. These included Thetford, Stamford, Lincoln, Torksey, Stafford, St. Neots, Winchester and Ipswich.<br />
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Most of the pottery available in tenth and eleventh century Britain was of a buff, grey or pinky-orange colour. Red clay of the flowerpot terracotta type is almost completely unknown except for applied slip decoration. Glazes tended to be greeny-yellow, or rarely orangey-yellow and may have had speckles of dark brown, dark green or yellow. Some pots would have been almost black due to a process known as reduction. This happens when oxygen is excluded from the kiln by clamping off any airways, and leaving it for a period of time.<br />
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It is interesting to note that although pottery was widely made in Denmark and southern Sweden, in Norway it was very rare, usually only being found as imported wares. Most cooking pots were made from soapstone - this is due to the fact that in Norway's rocky terrain, the easily carved soapstone is quite common, but clay deposits are quite rare.<br />
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==Types of Pottery==<br />
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* '''Chester-type''' pottery is a hard, sandy brown ware, wheel thrown and kiln fired. Dating to the tenth and eleventh centuries it is found from Chester to Hereford, covering most of Mercia. Chester ware pots have a distinctive flanged rim, rouletted shoulder and sagging base.<br />
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* '''Fine Whitby-type pottery is a grey or black sandy ware, thrown on a fast wheel and not very highly fired in a kiln. It has only been found at Northern monastic sites, and the only form known is a squat cooking pot with simple, squared, everted rim and a flat base.<br />
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* '''Leicester ware''' is a hard, sandy, grey ware with quartz inclusions, and is found only in Leicester. It is wheel thrown and fired in a kiln. It appears to date to the tenth and eleventh centuries. Forms include cooking pots and pitchers or storage vessels.<br />
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* '''Lincoln-type''' pottery has only been found in Lincoln. It is a hard, sandy ware, similar to Thetford-type ware but fired to a higher temperature giving a metallic finish, varying in colour from dark grey to orange. Forms known are globular cooking pots and straight sided bowls with coarse rouletting.<br />
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* '''Michelmersh ware''' is a smooth brown sandy ware, dating to the tenth or eleventh century. It was wheel thrown and fired in a single flue kiln. Forms include spouted pitchers with moulded rims; cooking pots with everted rims; upright and sloping dishes.<br />
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* '''Northampton ware''' is a hard, sandy ware varying in colour from grey to brown. Found only in Northampton, forms are mainly cooking pots.<br />
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* '''Porchester-type''' pottery is a hard sandy ware, tempered with finely crushed flint grit, wheel thrown and fired to a reddish or brown surface. It is found only in or near Porchester and dates to the tenth and eleventh centuries. Forms include wide, squat cooking pots, with sagging bases and decorated with horizontal lines and rouletting; bowls; and flat, shallow dishes.<br />
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* '''St. Neots-type''' is a soft ware tempered with crushed shells (probably in fossil form from the Oxford clay). The surfaces are usually black or red-brown. It was probably wheel thrown and clamp fired at low temperatures. It has been found over a large part of the country, including Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon-shire, Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Durham. The usual forms of this type of pottery are tall cooking pots or jars, usually with sagging bases; bowls, usually with inturned or flanged rims and some with hollow 'spouts' for the insertion of wooden handles; dishes or plates; and lamps. These wares were too soft to make carriers for liquids such as costrels and spouted pitchers.<br />
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* '''Stamford-type''' pottery has a coarse and fine form. The fine form is an almost untempered off white ware used for glazed spouted pitches and bowls. The coarse form is a coarse, sandy off white or pinkish ware used mainly for cooking pots. Stamford ware was finely made on a fast wheel and fired in a developed single flue kiln. The glaze on Stamford ware appears pale green, pale yellow or orange, depending on the fabric. This was the most widely distributed pottery in the period, with Stamford-type glazed pitchers having been found in every county of England, and even as far as Montgomeryshire and Dublin. It appears to have been in production from the ninth to twelfth century. Forms included glazed spouted pitchers with one or three handles; jars; cooking pots; bowls with rims either rouletted or with applied thumbed strips; lamps, crucibles and lids.<br />
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* '''Thetford-type''' is a hard reduced grey ware tempered with sand, wheel thrown and kiln fired at fairly high temperatures. It was mainly produced in Ipswich, Norwich and Thetford. The usual forms of this type of pottery are tall cooking pots or jars, some with rouletted decoration; bowls; spouted pitchers with tubular and U-shaped spouts; storage jars, often massive hand built examples with multiple handles, decorated with applied bands and stamped designs; dishes; costrels; crucibles and lamps. The example to the right is large enough to hide a small child in.<br />
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* '''Torksey-type''' pottery is a sandy grey ware, rougher than Thetford ware because of the addition of quartz fragments, usually fired black. It was produced from the mid tenth to mid twelfth centuries. Forms include cooking pots; bowls with a down-turned outer-thumbed flange; lamps; ring vases; storage vessels; and a few spouted pitchers.<br />
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* '''Winchester-type''' is a high-quality, wheel thrown decorated pottery with a lead glaze, produced in Winchester itself from about 950-1100. It is a hard, well-fired sandy brown ware. The glaze colour varies from yellowish red to green or a dark olive green, mottled with orange. It is often highly decorated with applied notched strips, applied strips with circle and cross stamps, incised triangular zones, stamps and rouletting. It is found all across Southern England and shows a different, though parallel tradition to the contemporary Stamford-type wares. Forms are mainly spouted pitchers, although other forms are known such as cups; bowls; globular bottles imitating leather originals; small pots and sprinklers; lids; handled jars; tall narrow jugs and tripod pitchers.<br />
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* '''York-type''' pottery is a very hard ware with much grit added, giving a pimply appearance. It is well made on a fast wheel and fired to a high temperature in a developed kiln, although the wide range of colour variations suggest a failure to control the air intake. It appears to have been made from the tenth to mid twelfth centuries. Forms are similar to other types, although no storage vessels have yet been found.<br />
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The types listed above are some of the main types of English pottery in our period. However, hand-made pottery was still being produced locally and good quality pottery was being imported from the continent. No doubt, foreign pottery was used to demonstrate an individuals cosmopolitan nature even then.<br />
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<gallery><br />
File:StamfordPottery1.gif|Typical Stamford ware pottery styles<br />
File:ThetfordPottery1.gif|A typical Thetford ware pot<br />
File:ThetfordPottery2.gif|A Thetford ware storage jar<br />
File:TorkseyPottery1.gif|Typically stout Torksey ware<br />
File:WinchesterPottery1.gif|A selection of Winchester ware<br />
</gallery><br />
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''Original article by Ben Levick, 1993<br>Revised by Rolland Williamson, 2002<br>Illustrations by Colin Levick''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:WinchesterPottery1.gif&diff=5145File:WinchesterPottery1.gif2018-08-30T12:53:34Z<p>Admin: A selection of Winchester ware. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>A selection of Winchester ware. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:TorkseyPottery1.gif&diff=5144File:TorkseyPottery1.gif2018-08-30T12:53:05Z<p>Admin: Typically stout Torksey ware. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Typically stout Torksey ware. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:ThetfordPottery2.gif&diff=5143File:ThetfordPottery2.gif2018-08-30T12:52:46Z<p>Admin: A Thetford ware storage jar. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>A Thetford ware storage jar. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:ThetfordPottery1.gif&diff=5142File:ThetfordPottery1.gif2018-08-30T12:52:09Z<p>Admin: A typical Thetford ware pot. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>A typical Thetford ware pot. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:StamfordPottery1.gif&diff=5141File:StamfordPottery1.gif2018-08-30T12:50:53Z<p>Admin: Typical Stamford ware pottery styles. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>Typical Stamford ware pottery styles. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Kiln.gif&diff=5140File:Kiln.gif2018-08-30T12:49:58Z<p>Admin: A cross section of an idealised turf covered pottery kiln before it was sealed or through the flue/door opening. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>A cross section of an idealised turf covered pottery kiln before it was sealed or through the flue/door opening. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Potterswheel1.gif&diff=5139File:Potterswheel1.gif2018-08-30T12:48:59Z<p>Admin: A manuscript image of a potters wheel. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>A manuscript image of a potters wheel. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Potterystamp.gif&diff=5138File:Potterystamp.gif2018-08-30T12:48:07Z<p>Admin: An antler decorative stamp. By Colin Levick.</p>
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<div>An antler decorative stamp. By Colin Levick.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Template:Nav_Crafts_and_Everyday_Life&diff=5137Template:Nav Crafts and Everyday Life2018-08-30T12:46:42Z<p>Admin: link and title correction</p>
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<noinclude>[[Category:Nav Menus]]</noinclude></div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=Houses_and_Furniture&diff=5135Houses and Furniture2018-08-30T12:44:04Z<p>Admin: images</p>
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<div>The Saxons generally built their houses of wood although, after they had accepted Christianity, some of their churches were built in stone. Of course, at the time, people had been building in wood for thousands of years, so they would have known far more about making wooden buildings than we do today and they had far more timber to choose from. The problem with wooden buildings is that they catch fire and decay much more easily than stone buildings, which meant that they had to be replaced more often. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that, at least amongst the nobility, it was considered 'not the done thing' to live in an old building, so some perfectly serviceable buildings would have been replaced for no more reason than personal vanity.<br />
<br />
The Vikings also had a long tradition of building in wood, and many of the early mediaeval wooden churches from Scandinavia survive to this day. However, wood was not so plentiful in some parts of Scandinavia, so other materials were used as well, such as stone and turf.<br />
<br />
==Types of Buildings==<br />
[[File:Hall01.gif|thumb|left|A typical cross-section through a standard Saxon house]]<br />
The buildings vary greatly in size from the small, single room houses only about 3 x 3.5m (10' x 11'8') like those found at West Stow to vast halls like that at Westminster which was 22 x 80m (76' x 262'). All the buildings fit into one of two broad categories: sunken featured buildings and framed buildings. Both types are usually square or rectangular although a few round examples of each are known. Sunken featured buildings are those where a 'pit' forms part of the building, either as a living/working space, or as a sort of undercroft. These would have had a timber framed superstructure over them. Framed buildings are those where the whole building gains its strength from its timber frame, built around a series of posts set in the ground.<br />
<br />
===Sunken Featured Buildings===<br />
<br />
[[File:Sfb01.gif|thumb|left|A cross-section through a house with a void beneath the floor, known as a ''''sunken featured building'''']]<br />
The old idea of sunken floored huts led to reconstructions of them which were not much more than a pit with a roof. Whilst this may be true for those sunken featured buildings used as workshops, recent reconstructions have shown this to be the wrong idea for houses. If a roof is put directly over the pit a number of problems follow. First, where the thatch meets the ground it rots very quickly and needs repairing frequently. Secondly, this method of construction produces a very damp set of living conditions. Thirdly, hearths have been found partly in the pits and partly on the edge of the pit suggesting that they were originally on a floor above the pit and fell down into the pit when the floor rotted away. Finally, and this is probably the most important evidence, when people move around inside a building built this way the edges of the pit deteriorate and do not end up conforming to the archaeological evidence.<br />
<br />
The modern idea of the sunken floored building comes in two forms. The first of these gives a more spacious, better quality walled building, with a wooden floor built over the pit, generally 0.5 - 1m (11/2 - 3') deep. The pit is then used for storage or, more likely, insulation. There is strong evidence to suggest the pit may even have been filled with straw in the winter. As this decomposed it would give off heat and form a simple 'central heating' system! The building itself was larger than the pit. A number of posts (sometimes two, but usually six - three at each end of the pit) supported the central roof beam and, in the case of the six post version, an intermediate roof beam. The (floor through which the posts passed) was supported by a wooden framework. The edges of this framework supported the base of the walls. The tops of the walls supported the eaves of the roof. Tie beams ran from side to side of the building and intersected with the upright posts. The ends of the building (beyond the posts) were probably used for storage and sleeping, whilst the central section with its hearth provided the main living quarters.<br />
<br />
The second type of sunken featured building is really just a variant on the old idea of the covered pit. The walls of the pit would be lined with wooden planks or wattle, and the floor could also be planked. Access, could be gained via a ladder or steps from a door in the building's end, and the pitched, thatched roof would come down, not to the ground but to a low turf or wooden wall. This type of building is known from the continental Saxon homelands, and has the advantage of using less building materials than the method above. This type of building is seen mainly as a workshop, rather than as a living space, an idea borne out by the many loom weights found in these types of buildings. Of course, it is highly likely that both types of building could have existed side by side, each being used for a different purpose.<br />
<br />
Another type of sunken featured building, introduced in the second half of the tenth century, would more properly be described as a cellared building. In these buildings the floor may be as much 2.5m 9' below the contemporary ground surface. These buildings are often distinguished by a 'cavity wall' lining the pit and often have joisted floors. These deep cellared buildings have no evidence of domestic hearths suggesting that they were used for storage, or as the 'industrial debris' found in some suggests, workshops. Steps are often found going down to them. There is plenty of evidence to suggest there was a joisted floor at ground level, or just above it, suggesting the living area or a workshop may have been at this level. This type of building is found predominantly in towns.<br />
<br />
===Framed Buildings===<br />
<br />
[[File:Hall02.gif|thumb|left|A three-quarter view through an idealised Saxon home built using simple frame construction]]<br />
The framed buildings relied on the fact that a large number of posts were set into the ground to form the basis if the walls. These posts could be set as deep as 2.4m (8') deep on large buildings, although usually the post holes were much shallower than this. A wall plate then joined all the beams in each wall of the building. Tie beams running across the building, and the roof frames, were secured to the wall plates. The spaces between the upright posts were then filled in and the roof was finished. The floor was sometimes just packed earth, but could sometimes be planked, cobbled, or even given a 'concrete like' covering of slaked lime. There was usually a raised hearth in the centre of the building. Framed buildings were often much larger than sunken featured building, and could have a second storey. The larger buildings tended to have extra rows of posts inside the building to help support the roof. Some framed buildings had wooden 'buttresses' around the outside to help support the building.<br />
<br />
[[File:Hall03.gif|thumb|right|The same building now clad and roofed with thatch]]<br />
The excavations of the seventh century settlements at Cowdery's Down and Charlton, both in Hampshire, uncovered evidence of 'cruck' building, a technique previously not thought to have been used until after the Norman Conquest. In this style of building the outer door frames extend into the roof and internal support for the roof timbers is provided by one or two pairs of curved timbers (crucks) set next to the door frames. This method allows for lower side walls, and thus saves on building materials. In light of these excavations, many other sites were reassessed, with the result that cruck building was identified at these too, showing that cruck building was not only known, but widespread by the seventh century.<br />
<br />
Sometime during the eighth- to tenth century the foundation technique of using a 'sill beam' was introduced. The sill beam is a horizontal beam which may be set in a foundation trench or placed directly on the ground surface. The wall posts rest upon it and may be held in position by a raised timber lip, or they may be set into the beam in rectangular sockets. By the late tenth- or early eleventh-century stone foundations were also being used.<br />
<br />
===Long-houses===<br />
<br />
A particularly Scandinavian type of building is the 'bow sided building'. Instead of straight sided walls, the walls curve so the building is wider at the middle than at each end. These have always been framed buildings, usually with buttresses. The best examples of these come from the military fortresses as Fyrkat, Trelleborg and Aggersborg in Denmark where they probably served as barracks. Some English examples of this type of building are known in a Saxon context, but most are in Scandinavian influenced areas.<br />
<br />
===Stone Buildings===<br />
<br />
It used to be assumed that the only buildings the Anglo-Saxons made of stone were churches. Recent archaeological finds have shown that some noblemen's halls were also being built of stone in the late Anglo-Saxon period, probably emulating the stone palaces of continental kings such as Charlemagne. It even seems likely that some of these buildings may have had glass windows! Stone halls are also known from literature, for example, Asser says in his 'Life of King Alfred':<br />
<br />
::'What shall I say of the cities and towns he restored, and of others which he built where none had been before? Of the buildings marvellously wrought with gold and silver under his direction? Of the royal halls and chambers, wonderfully built of stone and of wood at his command? Of royal vills made of masonry removed from the old sites and most admirably rebuilt in more suitable places by the king's order?'<br />
<br />
==Construction==<br />
<br />
The walls were made in many different ways, some were made from wattle and daub, others were planked in one of many ways, some were even 'cavity walls' with moss or grass infill. Although there is no archaeological evidence for it, literature suggests that some of these wooden walled buildings may have been further strengthened by iron reinforcing bands, for example, in Beowulf:<br />
<br />
[[File:Sfb02.gif|thumb|right|The frames and floor in the sunken featured building]]<br />
'It was a wonder the wine-hall withstood two so fierce in battle, that the fair building did not fall to earth; but it stood firm, braced inside and out with hammered iron bands. That beautiful building, braced within with iron bands, was badly damaged; the door's hinges were wrenched... he approached Heorot, stood on the steps, stared at the high roof adorned with gold ... Then Beowulf, brave in battle, crossed the floor with his band - the timbers thundered...'<br />
In areas where wood was scarce, e.g. many of the Northern Isles, some buildings had stone or turf walls. In Iceland it is known that entire buildings, including the roof, were made of turf. Some of the later Saxon Royal Manors may have been stone built, perhaps even with glass windows, probably influenced by continental stone palaces. Roofs were generally thatched although turf and wooden shingles may also have been used.<br />
<br />
Large halls and manors may well have been surrounded by rampart walls and ditches so they became a fortified residence, such as the hall at Cheddar, or the late Saxon manor at Goltho, said by some to be England's first castle! Also within the wall would have been a well, latrines, a chapel, workshops, barns, pens for livestock, hen houses and perhaps other outbuildings. A smithy was often just outside the wall because of the fire risk a forge represented.<br />
<br />
Many houses would have been decorated with carvings. These carvings may well have been painted. Gold may also have been used to decorate some of the great halls as the writer of Beowulf describes '... And he resolved to build a hall, a large and noble feasting-hall of whose splendours men would always speak ... Then I heard that tribes without number, even to the ends of the earth, were given orders to decorate the hall.... The thegns made haste, marched along together until they could discern the glorious, timbered hall, adorned with gold.'<br />
<br />
[[File:Sfb03.gif|thumb|right|The 'SFB' clad and thatched]]<br />
We know how someone set about building a house from a description written down by King Alfred:<br />
<br />
::'Then I gathered for myself staves and posts and tie-beams, and handles for each of the tools I knew how to use, and building timbers and beams, and as much as I could carry of the most beautiful woods for each of the structures I knew how to build. I did not come home with a single load without wishing to bring home the whole forest with me, if I could have carried it all away; in every tree I saw something that I needed at home. Wherefore I advise each of those who is able, and has many wagons, to direct himself to the same forest where I cut these posts; let him fetch more there for himself, and load his wagons with fair branches so that he can weave many a neat wall and construct many an excellent building, and build a fair town with them; and may dwell there pleasantly and at his ease winter and summer, as I have yet not done.'<br />
<br />
Byrhtferth's Manual, a book written around the year 1011, tells us:<br />
<br />
::'We first of all survey the site of the house and also hew the timber to shape, and neatly fit together the sills and lay down the beams and fasten the rafters to the roof, and support it with buttresses and afterwards delightfully adorn the house.'<br />
<br />
Most houses had only one floor and often only one room. Some of the larger buildings had more than a single room, although not generally more than three. Some of these larger buildings may have had one end used as an animal shed in the Scandinavian style.<br />
<br />
==Heating and Lighting==<br />
<br />
Windows were very rare and light would generally come from candles or lamps which burnt animal fat and a central fire built on a raised clay hearth. Hearths were generally oblong or rectangular and often had a frame of wood or stone. The windows may have had vellum stretched over them, as this allows light in but keep draughts out or, rarely, may have been glazed. Windows may also have been shuttered. The fire was the 'central heating' and 'cooker', although a few houses may also have had a clay bread oven.<br />
<br />
==Doors and Floors==<br />
<br />
Doors had iron or wood hinges and were closed with a latch. Some doors would also have a lock. The floors would have been of packed earth or wood. The wooden floors may have been just simple floorboards or may have been made of tessellated wooden tiles. There is also some evidence that halls may have had raised wooden floors, with steps leading up to the entrance. In Beowulf we hear 'The outer door, bolted with iron bands, burst open at a touch from his hands ... the fiend stepped onto the tessellated floor ...'<br />
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There are a few Anglo-Saxon clay floor tiles known from 11th century ecclesiastical centres, but these do not appear to have been used in houses and halls. The floor was often strewn with straw and/or sweet smelling herbs.<br />
<br />
==Furniture==<br />
<br />
How were the buildings furnished? The Norse Sagas give us some clues. For example, a freeman called Bui is taken into a hall '... hung throughout [with tapestries] and with straw on the floor. A man sat in the high seat on the far bench, big and handsome with a great beard, white of hair. He was well built, and seemed to Bui most princely. Both benches were filled with many people, many of whom had rather large faces. Women sat across the hall. A table stood the length of the room, with food set out... There were also young men and cup bearers.'<br />
<br />
At another point in the same saga '... She drew up a fair table, and laid it. Then she carried to him a silver basin and costly towel, and afterwards asked him to eat and drink. She fetched in delicious food and splendid drink. All of the table things, dishes, goblets and spoons, were of silver decorated with gold. Frith sat down by Bui, and they ate and drank together.' In another saga '... Modir took a patterned cloth of bright linen and covered the table; then she took fine white wheaten bread and covered the cloth. She carried in full bowls embellished with silver, put on the table pork and game birds. There was wine in the jug; the silver mug was heavy.'<br />
<br />
[[File:Walls.gif|thumb|right|Various types and methods of cladding and infill of Anglo-Saxon wooden buildings]]<br />
In Beowulf we have other references to furniture:<br />
<br />
::'... Then in the feasting-hall, a bench was cleared for the Geats all together ... Then the brave prince leaned back, put his head on the pillow while around him, many a brave seafarer lay back on his bed... I have heard tell that there where they fought, many a mead bench, studded with gold, started from the floor... Tapestries, worked in gold, glittered on the walls, many a fine sight for those that have eyes to see such things.... Then the glorious warriors sat on the benches, rejoicing in the feast... Then Wealhtheow retired to her seat beside her lord... benches were pushed back; the floor was padded with beds and pillows... They set their bright battle shields at their heads. Placed on the bench above each retainer, his crested helmet, his linked corselet and sturdy spear shaft were plainly to be seen...'<br />
<br />
Furniture was generally very sparse. There would be a chest, or chests, for important belongings, often iron bound and lockable. There would also be some shelves, a loom (weaving was an almost full time job for many Anglo-Saxon women) and perhaps a table and some stools. During a meal the table would have been covered with a table-cloth. The tables were often of the trestle type and could be folded away and stored when not needed. Often Viking halls had raised wooden earth filled 'benches' down each side of the hall. These would serve as seating during the day and as a sleeping area at night. Wealthier people may have had a wooden bed with a straw filled mattress and a pillow. The bed would usually be screened off from the main hall by a curtain, often embroidered. Chairs were rarely used, usually only by the lord of the hall and perhaps his lady and most important guests. Most people would have sat on either the inbuilt benches, in Scandinavian style halls, or moveable ones, or perhaps on the chests which could double as benches. Around the walls would be plain cloth hangings or skins to keep draughts out. Embroidered hangings were hung over these on festive occasions. In a warrior's hall trophies of war such as shields may also have been hung on the wall. Furniture was almost invariably made from wood, although folding iron chairs are known, and archaeologists have recovered three legged stools, benches, chairs, tables, beds and chests from Anglo-Saxon and Viking excavations.<br />
<br />
==Tents - A Home from Home==<br />
<br />
Tents were used by both Vikings and Saxons. When the ship burials at Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway were carried out the frames for several wooden tents were found, all terminating in fierce, carved animal heads. It is thought that most Viking ships probably carried some tents of this type to provide shelter, at least for the more important members of the crew, when the ship was away from home. These tents varied considerably in size, some of them being large enough to have a fire inside! Unfortunately, we do not know exactly how the canvas fitted to these tents, or indeed, if they may have just used the ship's sail to cover the frame. These tents may well have functioned as a 'market stall' when the ship's crew were engaged in trade, although they could equally well have provided shelter for soldiers on campaign. We do not know much more about Viking tents because they do not seem to be illustrated in any contemporary pictures, or mentioned in any contemporary literature.<br />
<br />
In contrast, the tents used by Anglo-Saxons are well known from literature and illustrations, but completely unknown from archaeology. This means that, although we know what they looked like, we do not know how they were made. These tents appear to be identical to the tents used in the rest of mainland Europe at this time, but unfortunately none of these have been excavated either. Illustrations of these tents are remarkably consistent in the type of tent they show.<br />
<br />
Anglo-Saxon tents appear to have been mainly used for armies on the march, the very word camp is an Old English word meaning 'battle or warfare', although it appears they may also have been used by other people when away from home, for example, traders, farmers (?) out slaughtering animals, etc.. We also have several literary references to people being 'at prayer in their tent', usually in descriptions of military events, and also have references to 'tabernacles or tents'. From this, it seems that some tents may have been used as 'mobile churches', and this may well be what the 'bell' tents, usually surmounted by a cross seen in manuscript illustrations, may represent.<br />
<br />
===Tents how the Anglo Saxons saw them===<br />
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''Original article and Illustrations Ben Levick 1993''</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Manu083.gif&diff=5134File:Manu083.gif2018-08-30T12:41:57Z<p>Admin: Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</p>
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<div>Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Manu082.gif&diff=5133File:Manu082.gif2018-08-30T12:41:51Z<p>Admin: Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</p>
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<div>Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Manu078.gif&diff=5129File:Manu078.gif2018-08-30T12:41:23Z<p>Admin: Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</p>
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<div>Tents as the Anglo-Saxons saw them</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Walls.gif&diff=5128File:Walls.gif2018-08-30T12:40:25Z<p>Admin: Various types and methods of cladding and infill of Anglo-Saxon wooden buildings
By Ben Levick 1993.</p>
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<div>Various types and methods of cladding and infill of Anglo-Saxon wooden buildings<br />
By Ben Levick 1993.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Sfb03.gif&diff=5127File:Sfb03.gif2018-08-30T12:39:12Z<p>Admin: The 'sunken featured building' clad and thatched.
By Ben Levick 1993.</p>
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<div>The 'sunken featured building' clad and thatched.<br />
By Ben Levick 1993.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Sfb02.gif&diff=5126File:Sfb02.gif2018-08-30T12:38:20Z<p>Admin: The frames and floor in the sunken featured building
By Ben Levick 1993.</p>
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<div>The frames and floor in the sunken featured building<br />
By Ben Levick 1993.</div>Adminhttps://wiki.regia.org/index.php?title=File:Sfb01.gif&diff=5125File:Sfb01.gif2018-08-30T12:37:06Z<p>Admin: A cross-section through a house with a void beneath the floor, known as a 'sunken featured building'
By Ben Levick 1993.</p>
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<div>A cross-section through a house with a void beneath the floor, known as a 'sunken featured building'<br />
By Ben Levick 1993.</div>Admin