The keep and the lord

The nobles lived in keep in the motte with some of the more important servants. The great hall was the biggest and most crucial room in the keep; the walls were decorated with tapestries and would have at least one fireplace with a chimney. There was a minstrel gallery for musicians and singers to entertain the lord and his family.

The lord had his own room called the solar with his own four-poster bed with curtains for privacy. At the top of the keep, the lady would have a day room for herself; it had the largest windows and the best views.

The toilet was called the 'garderobe' it had a pipe that travelled straight into the moat, so all the waste would be stored there. One way to capture a castle was to climb up the pipe and through the toilet.

Meals had many courses; each course consisted of many kinds of meats including swan, peacock, magpie, porpoise and boar. This was served with thick bread and very few vegetables; it was eaten with a knife and the fingers. If the lord was entertaining a guest, he might impress them by serving a pie full of live frogs.