Especially with popular media, it is hard not to have an image of castles as being pretty dreary places to live. Dark, drafty, cold, wet, etc. all jump to mind when I think of just about any depiction in film (not that there aren't alternative images, but they feel rare). Just how reflective was this of the actual quality of life for the residents of a castle? Most especially, how different would that be for the residents, for whom I assume the best possible comfort was attended, as compared to the staff who ensured things were running? Sure the Duke might have as good a bedchamber as possible, but how was the person who emptied his chamberpot faring when it came to basic comforts?

We hear a lot about elite male recreation, hunting, jousting, and so on. Do we have a good idea what woman of all classes did for fun in Castle living?

Hey Dr. Dempsey, thank you for doing this AMA!

I'm just going to go for a few (admittedly very broad) questions that instantly sprang to mind:

• How many people would actually live in a mid-sized European castle during the middle ages? How many of them would be women? Would only the family of the lord of the castle be living there permanently or other families as well?

• What was the daily routine for a woman in a castle? What chores were expected of them? And what would they do in their downtime for leisure?

• What is your take on "experimental archeology" such as being done in Guédelon? If this field is of any interest for your research at all, that is.

Hello! I've got a few questions:

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• How did medieval women deal with periods? Painful cramps, stained clothes, etc.
• Are there major differences in the lives of women across Europe? Was there a country where they had more freedom, more rights, or the opposite?
• What evidence is there for women having non-traditional roles in castles during this time?

Thank you!

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Edit: added a question that my friends asked to forward.

I’ve often heard that lower class women had (relatively) more freedom than their upper class counterparts since a peasant family would need everyone to pitch in with work, leading to a somewhat more egalitarian life. Is this true at all? Also, what kind of responsibilities did the average noble woman have? What was her “work day”, if she had one, like?

Hello! I have a few questions for you that are a bit broad, but I always like to hear from experts about their favorite parts:

• If you could make the public aware of one woman (either a specific, named person or maybe a profession you find interesting) you've learned about/studied, who would she be? What is it about her that you find interesting?
• What is something you've come across in your research about women's daily lives at castles that has surprised you?

Thank you very much for doing this AMA!

When women were the primary household authority - say when a husband or male relative left for war - how was their position viewed? I know there are examples of extremely powerful women who were left in charge of important castles, but was their status as, essentially, property manager extend into the realm of politics? How would they be viewed by their tenants, and by the industries on which the castle was sustained?

Seriously how different were the toilets? It seems like a simple task

Thank you for doing this AMA!

Being an amateur historian with a niche interest in the Low Countries during the medieval period and having a pristine example of a 13th century "water castle" next door that I visit often, one thing that I hear different opinions on by the different guides employed there concerns the sleeping habits of people during those days. On various tours I have heard them claim different things, such as that individuals would always sleep naked as well as together to conserve heat, while others are unwilling to attest to such things when asked. As such, I have four questions to ask:

• To what extent do we know about the sleeping habits of castle occupants during the medieval period in Europe?
• Did these sleeping habits change in any way throughout the medieval period in this locale?
• Has archaeology helped in a way to establish part of these sleeping hypotheses/theories, or is it something that is purely gleaned from literature?
• Did the sleeping habits of women differ substantially from those of men?

Hi Dr. Dempsey, thanks for doing this AMA! i have a few questions, most of which revolve around beauty standards of the era:

With regards to makeup:

• What would the "makeup routine" of an elite medieval person look like?
• For elites, was it common to wear makeup everday (like a social standard), or was it more of a special occcassion thing?
• Were there social connotations to wearing "too little"/"too much" makeup? I'm thinking of how nowadays women who wear "too much" makeup are told to "be more natural", for example.

With regards to body/face:

• What was viewed as the most attractive body type/shape/size for women?
• Were there any particular facial features (eg. big eyes or pouty lips) that medieval people considered most attractive on women?

Thanks :))

Is there any documentation of acts of feminism during this time? Did feminism exist and if so how closely did it resemble modern feminism?

Was religion really as powerful force in the daily life of that era as it's often said to be, or were people more realistic/casual/pragmatic about life? I imagine it varied from place to place, but do you have any sense of how strictly the Church's rules were generally followed?

On women specifically: Were female scholars and religious leaders (i.e. Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila) regarded as iconoclastic in their day, or was it normal and accepted that women could possess religious or scholastic authority? Were attitudes different towards nuns vs. lay-women; could a women gain respect in the arts or sciences without joining the Church?

I see you’re being asked loads of interesting questions, I have one that I think about frequently:

Showering?

There is nothing that feels more amazing than a warm shower when you need one. When I am sweaty and gross and take a shower I literally feel like a king. I know bathing was an entirely different concept than now, but still I wonder if there were shower-like contraptions set up for the king when he returned from battle?

Hello Dr. Dempsey,

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Thank you for taking these questions! This is such a fascinating and important area of research, so it's exciting to see it presented here.

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This is probably too general of a question, but I'm curious: how did married elite women cultivate friendships in this setting? Was it a relatively isolated existence on the platonic friendship front, or (at the other end of the spectrum) did they have the ability to entertain and host people freely? How did class play into this? And if it isn't too far afield, how was socializing different for like ladies living in court somewhere like Versailles (a central location with a high density of aristocrats) versus those living in castles with just their husbands and whoever else?

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Thank you!

I've recently finished a disseration that focussed on the conception of architectural space in medieval literary texts, and a significant chunk of that focussed on anchorages and anchoresses (mainly the Ancrene Wisse). Another chapter was concerned heavily with Bertilak's castle Hautdesert in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I wonder if you have any thoughts on the contrast between the spiritual ideal of womanhood represented by the achoress and the lay, romance ideal of femininity Lady Bertilak operates within? For example, Lady Bertilak occupies her time with visiting the chapel and presiding over her husband's feasts, and also seems to control the private quarters, such as the solars and bedchambers. This largely contrasts with the extreme simplicity and rigorous devotion of the anchoress. Was there any pressure for a noble lady to adopt aspects of the aescetic religious life - was planting seeds as prayers and tending a pleasure garden her version of reading the psalter?

I'm now heading into extremely niche territory, but what I found fascinating when researching anchoritic cells was the symbolism of the windows within them. They are treated as necessary but unwelcome, as the external windows invited sin in while the interior windows allowed the anchoress' gaze into the church, which could disrupt the sanctity of the sanctuary if she lusted after the priest. I'm aware that many castle chapels contain separate chambers for the high-ranking members of the household and these were occupied by the women (Conwy and Beaumaris spring to mind), but are there any parallels to the anchoritic conception of space as a reflection of internal processes in castle architecture?

I'm aware this is a bit unwieldy, so please tell me if I can clarify anything.

Hi! I have a few questions from a friend

• Anything about shoes, what were they like, made out of, did you find any sandals (they asked specifically about sandals)

• Anything about exotic animals being found in castles that would have been imported, and if so how maybe how frequent was this during medieval times

• Finally, was there a difference between what men and women ate?

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this!

I've noticed something of a trend where there are a lot (in medieval terms) of references to common women from the Low Countries actively participating in battles from the mid-14th to the 15th centuries (one as a (wo)man-at-arms in Scotland, four on the Continent in four different battles as infantry), and there are references of women fighting on behalf of rulers who drew from the Low Countries for their armies (3-5 for Richard I and an unknown number for Charles the Bold). Was there anything about the society of the Low Countries that could have contributed to the surprisingly high number of women from there recorded fighting?

Also, do you have any recommendations for a good general overview of medieval women and their lives?

I'm super late to the party, but thank you so much for doing this AMA!

Something that has stood out to me in the few palaces/castles I've visited in graffiti. A lot of it seems to be in male-dominated spaces, such as in corners where a guard would stand.

Have you found any pieces of graffiti that seem to be from women or that are in female-dominated spaces? If so, what can we learn from those marks? If not, what, if any, is there a similarly informal in which women have left their marks?

When ladies birthed children out of wedlock, and the men were not some well known duke/King etc. What would happen to the child? Would they just send it of to the nearest convent or what would happen to it?

Hey there! What was life like for women in Scotland in medieval times? Also, is there anything that makes Scottish castles unique compared to the rest of the world?

When queens came into power (not as consorts but in their own rights as monarchs), were there any efforts to change the monarch’s inner circle so it was “more female?” For example was a queen more likely to appoint female advisors for war/culture/etc.? And what about when kingdoms combined due to marriage? Did that change anything in the monarch’s inner circle? For example, Justin Trudeau has made an effort to make his cabinet more racially and ethnically diverse and more female, which speaks to the generation he comes from. Were there any similar movements among queens since there have been fewer of them in history compared to kings?

Thank you so much for doing this.

In Arthurian literature, there seem to be multiple stories of knights or of male nobles killing some guy and then just taking his wife as a war treasure (think of Uther killing Gorlois and taking Igraine, or of Culhwych's father Kilydd invading a neighboring area just to take Culhwych's stepmother as his new bride).

Did this happen in history, with warlords or nobles declaring war to acquire others' wives? If real, how did the wives feel about it? Did this have any impact on their social status?

Hello! Thank you for taking the time out of your day for this.

Were there many examples historically of noble women who, though chance or by their own design, ruled solely over their estate? What problems did they face that were unique to them? Did they encounter resistance to their authority?

Do we have much source evidence regarding teenagers in castle life or medieval life? To what age were teenagers educated, if at all and when would they begin work? Were they stroppy/ antisocial and did they have time for romance? Such an important period of human life and yet they seem silent in our view of the past. Alsonny girlfriend asks did they keep cats as pets in castles?

No questions from me, just wanted to say thanks for doing this AMA - your field is amazing and you're amazing!

What movie and/or show did you find most accurately depicts the time? The least (other than the obvious)?

I've got a few questions:

1. How common was it for aristocratic women (obviously we're talking about unmarried heiresses and widows here) to possess castle-lordships in their own right? and did they run their household and estates any differently to their male counterparts?
2. How did the inhabitants of castles obtain fresh water?
3. How extensive was book ownership in castles after 1150, and what sort of books would the lord and his family have been reading?
4. Did the patterns of leisure of the inhabitants of castles change much over time?
5. What's the most visually interesting castle you've studied?

Hi there! I'm late to the party but hopefully I can catch your second round of answering.

Is there any evidence in the archaeological record of how social norms and fads in the lives of medieval women distributed through an area over time? For instance, can you see certain artifacts of female life in London, and then see those same artifacts showing up maybe 10+ years later in the archaeological record in a more remote part of Europe?

Very general question(s), but how did you get into your line of study/work? Did castles come first and women later, or vice versa? Any interesting anecdotes, surprises, or stories you’ve learned along the way?

Thanks so much for doing this AMA, it’s fascinating!

First of all, thank you for your brilliant answers on all these interesting questions, Dr. Dempsey.

My questions are about typical morning routines of the Lady and Lord of the castle:

1. How would I wake up in the morning? Would someone wake me and at what time?
2. What would be my typical routine for getting ready in the morning? What kinds of things would be considered "normal" everyday grooming routines? You mentioned privacy being very different in a previous answer so: What kind of privacy might I expect from others getting ready in the morning?
3. What might I eat for breakfast and who would I dine with?
4. What changes would happen (if anything) to my routine through the course of the year? Were these routines different in summer vs. wintertime?

When I grow up, I want to be you!

One of my favorite stories of Castles and medieval women was Margaret Paston leading the defense of Caister Castle against the Duke of Norfolk. To what extent did elite women's role in household management extend to managing the military side of the castle household?

You've mentioned previously the relationship with women, weaving, and textiles; Have you been able to find in your research if these medieval women were also cultivating plants in the gardens for the dyeing of those fibers or were they mostly being imported?

I know this is a very broad question, but I am curious to know whether there have been new discoveries in archaeological research of medieval castles/villages that have changed the way you view a particular aspect of the daily lives there? Any favorite examples?

I have always wondered this, and hope you'll have a minute to answer! What was the mother and baby relationship like (even with wet nurses etc.)? Were parents as affectionate with their children as many are today?

Thank you so much for doing this AMA!

My understanding of castle life at that time was that the concept of private space/rooms wasn't really emphasized. To what extent was there a delineation between male and female spaces, both private and public?

What about the long dresses getting filthy when it comes to riding, being outside in general and then walking inside on what they call “rushes”? (which I understand to be something like alfalfa) They just went around with dirty gown trains all the time?

How unique was Castle Leap's oubliette and its use thereof? (Three cartloads of bones, is this true?!) Did other castles have similar rooms specifically for disappearing thorns in the side? I know there were Priest holes. I don't mean them.

How did the upper crust engage with music? I have kind of an interest in ballads - I just think they're neat! - and while I was mulling over a particular ballad one day (a Scandinavian version of Child 4, for what it's worth - God, Child 4, that's a strange one) it occurred to me that I really didn't have any idea who would be singing it and in what context. Women, men, etc.

I know that some ballads for instance would be accompanied by a dance - was there such folk dancing among the elite, did they sing the same types of songs (or sing at all), did women sing the same songs as men, etc.?

I once heard somwhere that some castles were only inhabited by a very small group of mostly men, I guess this was reffering to castles that weren't the lord's residence and were given to some of his knights to protect, that's just speculation on my part, I truly don't know. It mentions that because some of the dangers of a siege are either having traitors within the castle that could open up the gates to the enemy or just having so much people living in that food runs out, some servants, like women in charge of the cleaning of clothes, were asked to lived, but like on a regular basis, like they were ask to come in, do their job and then leave. I was wondering if that was really the case, did some servants, in this case women in charge of cleaning, be asked to leave after their job was done instead of taking residence inside the castle? And, if that was the case, what could one of these women do to be allowed to take residence and become a permanent worker for the castle?

One in three medieval women died in childbirth (says Google). Are there any accounts of what women thought about this? Were you scared for your friends when they were pregnant? For yourself? Would your husband be worried?

Who had a better chance of survival, the strong but maybe malnourished serf or a well-cared-for but sedentary lady?

Hello Dr Dempsey, and thank you for doing this AMA! Archaeology has always been my dream career, and I commend your emphasis on the everyday lives of women.

I am particularly interested in the life of Countess Bathory, the 16th century Hungarian noble woman who murdered young girls. I've been reading about her and her life for years, but have never been able to find much about what the interiors of her homes might have looked like (I've actually asked this here in this sub!) Some of her estates are still well preserved but have been renovated. Would you happen to have any insight about the construction, furnishing, materials, settings, etc. if castles and manors from that time and era? I can provide specific estate names or locations if that helps. Thanks for reading!

What we're the women's role when their castle is in seige? Do they help with repairs when there aren't any fighting? Are they also expected to fight alongside men when the situation gets dire? In the event the castle falls, what befalls the surviving female populace? Do they get violated and abused or not?

Hi Doctor Dempsey! Thank you for doing this awesome AMA!

My question is health-related. As a long-time (chronic) sufferer myself, I’ve always wondered how women dealt with cystitis or bladder infections in the medieval era! Did they just suffer with discomfort for ages, or simply die of the eventual kidney infections? Did they have any (effective) treatments?

Hello, thanks for this neat AMA!

I'm really interested I crusades era history, especially the Albigensian crusade in France. Something that comes up a lot is the different customs and traditions held by the people in Languedoc in comparison with the Northern crusaders. Since it kind of fits your focus, are you familiar with any reactions or accounts from outsiders reacting to any of the castles with female rulers and leaders?

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for doing this AMA!

We hear about Roman women wielding power through their sons and husbands, but do we know of any women in Medieval Europe who did the same?

Thanks for doing this. I have one simple question. It seems like an incredibly large part of medieval life was carrying things and moving them around. Bringing in firewood, food, and water, all of which are used rapidly in an inhabited castle must be a huge task. Do you have any idea the share of that burden women undertook, and about how many hours a day they spent transporting things about?

I'm an architecture student interested in being a preservationist, so I'd like to hear your opinion about how we should deal with ruined castles. Do you think the integrity of the original material and allowing natural decay matters more, or should they be restored to look as period-accurate as possible? What do you think would be more valuable for people to learn from?

I am not sure if you are still answering questions, but I hope so.

In many of your answers you talk about the lord and the lady moving from castle to castle, so the castle being empty much of the time, but were there not nights and lesser nobles who had only one smaller castle that was their primary residence? Or do you use a different term than castle for these smaller fortified residences?

Dr. Dempsey, thank you for doing this, there's been some pretty interesting stuff!

As I've read through your questions, you've pointed out a few times that castles were, most of the time, relatively vacant, as here:

the resident household at a castle would be very small and most of the rooms shut.

What do we know about the resident household: who were they? What work did they do, and what play? What kept their loyalty?

Apologies if I am late to teh game, but to repost a question-what do we know about medieval women's artistic production. You've mentioned women showing up in cathedral rolls as masons and I've seen stuff about nuns having scriptoria, but I don't know much detail and am curious about how much we know and what surviving examples there are.

Hello! I've read recently somewhere (I believe r/badhistory ) that castles were not used defensively and rather as a sign of regional power and to prevent the peasantry from rebelling. How true is this notion? If true, is it a universal fact? For example, would a castle in the holy land be defensive, since they were more likely to be attacked?

What kind of exposure to non-Christian, non-European did Medieval Europeans have? Naturally, I imagine that this answer would differ between say a farmer, a travelling skilled laborer, and say a merchant, but what attitudes and mores were prevalent throughout society? What and where were the exceptions to the prevailing standards?

In The Creation of Patriarchy, Gerda Lerner delves deeply into the historiography of the emergence of patriarchy, citing some fundamental milestones such as the enslavement of women, the differentiation between wife and concubine in the Code of Hammurabi, and the establishment of the Veil Law in Assyria, as well as the pivotal role of early Babylonian-influenced judaism in the construction of patriarchal laws and rules.

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Since you specialize in a more "modern" time (compared to said antiquity), I'd like to ask, what are some interesting, and perhaps less known characteristics of medieval castle life, that have influenced the sophistication of contemporary patriarchal Dispositifs?

What do we know about the location for giving birth? Was the "chapel" used for women of all standings?

How similar were the toilets then to now?

Multi-part question:

During a siege, how many people/defenders could a castle support for

1. a month
2. a year
3. several years.

I'm keen to visiting some castles but from the size and dimensions I'm reading, it just seems impossible to house the kinds of numbers that we see in fantasy stories.

Thank you so much for doing this!

What's the lowest status person in North/Western Europe that would own a castle? How common were they in proportion to villages and towns?

Hi! European castles as I understand them started out as primarily fairly austere fortified military structures (as with motte-and-bailey and other early designs), and they eventually became very definitely unfortified residential structures designed for comfort rather than defense, with a centuries long period of transition in there between the two types. At what point did women first start living in castles full time - were they present from the start, or did they move in at some point in the transition from defensive structure to fancy residence?

No question- just a huge huge thanks for doing this. I loved this AMA.

I know that elites whitewashed interior rooms in castles, but were castles ever painted on the outside before the transition to non-defensive palaces?

How common were urinary tract infections, and what were the cures available? How effective were they?

Very interesting area of research. Castles are (psychologically and in terms of power structure) very defensive and I think masculine constructs. The female or feminine would have had a difficult time finding any space, or recognition inside such male machines. I fear the ruling caste women would have been expected to be ornamental and obedient, and the working castes to be merely obedient, and it would have been hard to break out of those moulds.

The feminine areas - herbalism and healing, children, hospitality, textiles, literacy perhaps, were all soft. The buildings were notable hard, draughty, awkward, no doubt stinking, limited, egotistic, violent, competitive, etc. The whole realm of chivalry demostrates a lot of this. There are some wonderful (and I guess exceptional) illustrations from the 12-15th centuries showing women as stone-masons, artists, warriors, gardeners, etc - mostly French.

Were rape and bastard children of lords as common as modern media implies?

To what extent did women take over "men's work" in times of conflict or outright war?

Have you heard of the video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance? It was released last year by a developer from Europe who was attempting to make a faithful and accurate recreation of Bohemia in 1403.

Recently they released an expansion called "A Woman's Lot" in which players assume the role of a peasant girl. Obviously it's a game, so some liberties are taken for game play purposes. But from what I've heard, the creators were trying very hard to be as true to life as possible in the details.

I have heard armchair historians debate their success - especially as it relates to their portrayal of women. I would like interested to hear your opinion, if you have one.

Very interesting AMA. Thank you!

I imagine you know many castles that still exist. Which castles do you recommend visiting?

How accurate was Game of Thrones in Castle Defense and Castle Construction?

Shad Brooks (of the Shadiversity YouTube channel) has a hypothesis to explain the apparent lack of wooden castles in period artwork. He proposes that they (as well as most stone castles) had plastered/whitewashed exteriors for protection from the elements as well as aesthetic reasons, making them difficult to distinguish from stone castles when depicted. What's your professional opinion on this hypothesis?

In relation to how how modern communities engage with material heritage, a common question on Reddit is asking would you rather face a horse sized duck or 100 duck sized horses. In this case, would most medieval castles stand a better chance against the tiny horse or massive duck? Could they even stop the duck?

I've heard that regarding the Queen's role in a kingdom, sometimes they functioned as sort of spymasters, gathering information that the king might not be able to using social graces, social knowledge and womens groups. Is there any truth to this?

I remember reading somewhere that women had a much larger ability to own property or a business after the plague hit europe. How long did this boost in status last for women? What made it fade back over time?

How did Art and *Expensive Things* to show off to Visitors Evolve throughout the Ages?

How would the Baron of the Castle impress Visitors who Were Coming by? What would he use , Pictoral Art? , Servants? , Food? or Some other Means?

How were they Acquired?

Did the Baroness of the Castle have any say in its Decoration?
And how did they Change through the Medieval and Early Renaissance-al Era? (I would love it if you answered the Latter one , but it Depends on what Periods you learned).

I missed it, but thanks for the great answers. Very interesting to read everything. :)

If I were an important visitor to a castle, how likely was it that I would get my own private room, and what factors other than relative importance/class would influence that?

What are the most common misconceptions about sieges and siege defenses? Were siege towers and ladders all that common or were siege quite uneventful? I just really distrust movies as a way to learn about medieval warfare.

Who were the laborers who constructed such castles? Were they all trade masons, or were some of them just low-skilled but useful for carrying and unloading?

Also, how did upper and lower classes clean their bung holes before our modern toilet paper?

What's the academic perspective on Ruth Goldman and the veracity of her work?

I have a really stupid question, but I hope you’ll answer it anyway when you get back... Can you explain rushes on the floor to me? You see them mentioned all the time in historical novels or fantasy books set in castles but I just can’t imagine people throwing down rushes as if they were living in a barn instead of a castle. Is that really how people lived? Or did the upper castes do something else with the rushes like weaving them into a tatami style mat to cover the floors instead?

Is there anything you'd like to point out that no one has yet asked about?

Are there any major differences between the eating and cooking utensils used in medieval castles and those used today? Excepting electronic implements of course. Were basics like knives, spoons, forks, ladles, spatulas, etc. all basically the same then as they are now?

Hi Dr. Dempsy. Question is last txt block.

First off, Hi. So cool to talk to you. Just to align myself, I totally agree with your push for archaeology moving past constrained views of the Medieval world so that we don't fall into the same issues we the next gen have with the spencerian aspects of processualism.

Since we need these counternarratives and considerations of the past(s)/archaeologies (very barbara voss), I want to ask about some of the other gaps that form besides the focus on male-power in elite hierarchies that reinforces a patriarchal vision of history and so humanity.

Working off a the fact that hegemony of 'the oppressor' writing the past usually ends up masking local oppressed communities (yay Gilchrest for busting that open), how often do you see colleagues actually engaging work on fringe-narratives outside of Europe to avoid a notion of medieval as a european, not global, historical moment? To be clear, I'm not asking about brief nods to the upper class of "the east" that's just orientalism 2.0, but the recent stuff on fringes of regions lumped into the "global south." If it is scant, do you see a space for considering narratives apart from direct involvement (e.g., "Saracen" influence on the pre-enlightenment academy/theocracy or ripple-effects of Spain) to go deeper into things like abu-lughod's Indian Ocean world system to look at indigenous experiences of the medieval shifts that exploded during the rise of globalization? How would you like to see that happen from people working in those regions.

Thanks for your time!

So, are there many records of medieval jokes or trends? Were there things stupid teenagers did? What's the medieval equivalent of a fidget spinner or shouting yeet?

What do we know about the families (wives and children) of guards and other low-ranking members of the household?

In your opinion, what is the most interesting new development of the past few years in our understanding of castle life and routines? How have recent developments in your field shaken up understanding of life in castles?

Also, what were the average castle servant's accommodations like? How did they dress, what did they eat, where did they sleep compared to the nobility they served? How far back into the middle ages does knowledge here remain solid?

is there anything traditional media gets wrong about castles? If so what are they and what are the realities behind it?

Also, how long would a castle take to build with the tools thry had then?

How did kings keep themselves safe from assasinations by their feudal lords? More broad: how was security handled in castles? Was there a protocol of no weapons for anyone except the kings guard?

I understand that a castle may contain a Lord and his family yet who else would live in the keep/walled castle and what’s the situation with the Lord’s Knights, they don’t live in the castle so they?

In his time-travel novel "Timeline," Michael Crichton goes out of his way to say that fairly little is known about how midieval castles were decorated and that the colors used, specifically, are a mystery, before describing his imagined 1350s Dordogne castle. (Though it's been a long time since I read the book.) Is that correct?

Clergy aside, did literacy rates vary much between the men and women you study? What writing are you able to study?

I've been trying to find information on appropriate court manners, especially bowing. Would a 14th century English lady of the Court have curtsied and if so, how deeply? Only to the monarch or to other higher ranking nobles? Thanks!

Has the castle yard always been an empty lot or they were filled with utility cabins and warehouses in the past?

What did life smell like? Were people just living in their own filth or did people bath and have hygiene. I'm sure there were people on both sides but what was the average person like?

What castle is in the photo? I know the chances are slim, but is Hrad Rabi in the Czech Republic by chance?

What would a woman's daily duties have been in a medieval castle from Noble>merchant class> peseant? How often did the classes mix within a castle? Would living in a castle have been a status symbol, a safety thing or would it have been more comfortable and preferable to live in a private home?

Hello, in your opinion where in medieval europe (and when) do you believe that women had the most intresting day to day lives

Out of Curiosity can you tell me how you got in to the work that you have chosen to do? Like what steps did you take or interesting connections that helped you along the way?

What social classes weren't allowed into the castle walls, if any?

Have you read the Outlander series? Seems like something you'd enjoy very much as it has castles, plants/gardening and all sorts of neat stuff as well as a female protagonist.

Were there roommates in the Middle Ages?

I know this is a very broad question, but were noblewomen as well educated as their male counterparts? Thanks for your time, this is fascinating!

Is that Chepstow castle? I live/grew up there. Fascinating history that place and awesome to see someone shed light on life within the massive obelisk in the middle of my town. Thanks!

How did castles start in the early medieval period? Would any joe in the post-roman period with enough money just plop one down and declare the territory his?

Did women, common or privileged, feel oppressed?

I find difficulty wrapping my head around the concept of courtly love. After explaining it could you further explain it's impact on women and medieval noble life?

What would you consider the most historically accurate movie or television show or book having to do with castles

How did women deal with thwir periods back then, especially the elite women?

What were the major differences in the lives of the female and male staff who lived in these castles?

Were Ccastles comfortable to live in? I've heard they were drafty and cold and were more like big forts.

If you had to choose a castle to ride out the Zombie Apocalypse, which would it be, and what are your criteria for selection?

i've read about men (boys) getting burned at the stake for premarital sex, what were the consequences for women for doing that? (if we ignore pregnancies).

Were womens lives ones of torment and suffering? Did they have any say in what they could do or were they treated like farm animals?

Favourite castle? I really liked Dunluce castle in Northern Ireland.

Were there any women of the lower classes, other than nuns, who were taught to read and write? What was the hierarchy of a medieval castle?

Is it true that the whole family slept in the same big bed?

What is going on with the ruins of the castle they found that actually support the theory that Camelot was real?

Didn't they move castles every so often because the sewage would make one castle smell so they'd go to another for a time to let the one's smell fade?

Is there a lot of information about medieval women from other continents (like Asia or Africa)?

Witch castle has the thickest walls in wales?

Is there any Examples of Lesbianism?