Homes and Households

Homes and Households

Medieval towns were typically small and crowded. Most of the houses were built of wood. They  were narrow and could be up to four stories high. As wooden houses aged, they tended to lean.  Sometimes two facing houses would lean so much they touched across the street!  

Rich and poor lived in quite different households. In poorer neighborhoods, several families  might share a single house. A family might have only one room where they cooked, ate, and  slept. In general, people worked where they lived. If a father or mother was a weaver, for  example, the loom would be in their home.

Multiple Choice

As wooden houses aged, they tended to _______.

• fall

• Lean

Multiple Choice

Medieval towns were typically small and crowded.

• true

• false

Wealthy merchants often had splendid homes. The first level might be given over to a business,  including offices and storerooms. The family’s living quarters might be on the second level,  complete with a solar, a space where the family gathered to eat and talk. An upper level might  house servants and apprentices.  

Even for wealthy families, life was not always comfortable compared to life today. Rooms were  cold, smoky, and dim. Fireplaces were the only source of heat, as well as the main source of  light. Most windows were small and covered with oiled parchment instead of glass, so little  sunlight came through. 

Multiple Choice

Rooms were

• cold

• warm

Multiple Choice

Houses were brightly light

• false

• true

Growing up in a medieval town wasn’t easy, either. About half of all children died before they became adults. Those who survived began preparing for their adult roles around the age of seven. Some boys and a few girls attended school, where they learned to read and write. Children from wealthier families might learn to paint and to play music on a lute (a stringed instrument). Other children soon began work as apprentices.  

Multiple Choice

Growing up in a medieval town was easy

• true

• false

In general, people of the Middle Ages believed in an orderly society in which everyone knew their place. Most boys grew up to do the same work as their fathers. Some girls trained for a craft. But most girls married young, usually around the age of 15, and were soon raising children of their own. For many girls, their education was at home, where they learned cooking, cloth making, and other skills necessary to care for a home and family.

Multiple Choice

Boys grew up to do the same work as ...

• Their fathers

• Their mothers