Birds that Symbolized Christianity in the Middle Ages

Birds represented the soul in medieval thought, capable of winging above worldly cares and possessions to reach God. The concept isn't hard to grasp. It ia, in fact, unforgettable. Individual birds took on special meanings in the Middle Ages, just as they do today. Some of the most notable are listed below and may surprise you.

This article is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt

Birds that Symbolized Christianity in the Middle Ages

Crane

When the lead crane tired during flight, that bird would drop to the rear of the flock, to be replaced by another. The first thus became last, an example of humility. Christians also looked to cranes for a reminder of vigilance. This connection began with Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist, who taught that a single crane clutching a stone in its claw kept watch over the flock at night. If the feathered sentry began to fall asleep, the stone would fall and wake the crane. In medieval heraldry, a crane holding a stone became the very image of watchfulness.  

Dove

Found in the pages of the Bible, the dove represented the Holy Spirit, peace and purity in the Middle Ages as it does today.

Eagle

It was once believed that eagles flew near the sun, then plunged into water to renew their plumage and restore their youth. This idea was based on Psalm 103:5: “…so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” (World English Bible) This association made the eagle a symbol of resurrection, new life, and Christ Himself.

Falcon

The falcon had two interpretations in the Middle Ages. As a persistent hunter, the wild falcon brought to mind evil thoughts and actions. However, the domesticated falcon represented the gentile converted to Christianity. This duality makes clear the peril of those separated from God and the mercy of God’s grace in offering salvation to all mankind.

Goldfinch

Because of a fondness for thistles thorns, the tiny goldfinch became a powerful symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in dying to save lost sinners.
  

Peacock

In ancient times, people suggested that peacock flesh would not decay. The birds were thought to be immortal. Peacocks shed and regrow their tail feathers, a feat that reminded people of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Pelican

In the Middle Ages, pelicans were considered attentive to their young. A pelican who brought no food to the nest might even wound itself so its young could dine upon their parent’s blood. The pelican thus symbolized the passion of Christ, who poured out his blood for a starving world.

Deutsch: Friedrich Justin Bertuch, Bilderbuch für Kinder, 1790-1830 (Eigenbesitz), Fabelwesen.by Bertuch-fabelwesen.JPG: Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (1747-1822)derivative work: Tsaag Valren (Bertuch-fabelwesen.JPG) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Phoenix

Introduced into Christianity possibly during the first century, the Phoenix was a mythical bird of surpassing beauty from the Egyptian dessert. This bird was said to burn itself on a funeral pyre, only to rise from its ashes, restored to youth and ready to live out another long lifespan. Popular in medieval art, the phoenix represented the death and resurrection of Christ.  

Note from the Author

Maybe it’s because I write allegorical fiction, but symbolism fascinates me. The creatures and objects chosen to represent Christian spiritual concepts, the Christian Church, and in many cases, Christ Himself, reveal a lot about medieval culture. Needless to say, I’m hooked on this study. Every third month I'll offer a new post on this topic.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt offers readers a unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy. She creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. Known for her vivid writing, this multi-faceted author writes in the western historical romance, medieval epic fantasy, and romantic suspense genres.

Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary Agency. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to garden and explore the great outdoors with her family.

Learn about Tales of Faeraven, medieval epic fantasy from the pen of Janalyn Voigt

From Washouts to Pirates, Travel in 14th-Century England

This post is brought to you by Janalyn Voigt.

A portion of the Roman Road, now a bridle path, near Slinfold, photo by Andy Potter; [CC BY-SA 2.0]

Travel in 14th-Century England depended on status and wealth. Most people were villiens, laborers who farmed land they rented from a lord. Travel for them consisted of going by foot to the nearest market town, where they could sell wares and purchase goods. Almost all towns and villages were less than 15 miles apart, which made an easy walking distance with a night’s lodging possible. People walked more in those days and had strong legs, a fact documented by forensic examination of human skeletons from that era.

Those riding on the back of horse, mules, or donkeys could travel on to the next town before needing to stop. Wagons and carriages weren’t a common means of transportation, even for the nobility. Wheeled carts were useful for short trips, but the poor roads limited their value for longer journeys.

Inns weren’t plentiful and didn’t take everyone. The cost of a bed in an inn wasn’t practical for villiens, who had to be resourceful. They could hope to spend the night in a friend’s home. Farms and cottages might offer hospitality. Sleeping conditions could be rough. Rather than finding a bed for the night, a villien would be thankful to sleep on a pallet in the corner of a kitchen. Churches maintained hostels where the poor could stay.

People didn’t usually employ maps, which meant that finding your way on a land journey called for knowledge of the route or hiring a guide. Roads were usually muddy tracks forged from need and frequent use. Those whose course took them along one of the few remaining Roman roads did a little better. Travelers often had to ford streams and rivers. Bridges might be in poor shape, missing, or washed out altogether.

Those travelling the same direction frequently banded together for safety’s sake. Dangers lurked in the form of wolves, boars, or robbers. Most travelers carried weapons for self-defense.

Sometimes people transported goods by rivers, thus avoiding the difficulties of land travel. They paid a toll for this privilege.

Sea voyages were unreliable, cramped, and filthy. Ships carried passengers into other kinds of danger. A storm might drive the vessel off course or send it, and everyone aboard, to the bottom of the sea. Pirates were a known threat.

Travel in the Middle Ages was a challenging business for the average person. It presented inconveniences and dangers and could be quite an adventure.

About Janalyn Voigt

Escape into creative worlds of fiction with Janalyn Voigt. Her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales of Faeraven, her medieval epic fantasy series beginning with DawnSinger, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams. Her western historical romance novels have received acclaim from Library journal and Romantic Times. 

Janalyn is represented by Wordserve Literary. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, Janalyn loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors.

DawnSinger (Tales of Faeraven, book 1)

The High Queen is dying… At the royal summons, Shae mounts a wingabeast and soars through the air to the high hold of Faeraven, where all is not as it seems. Visions warn her of danger, and a dark soul touches hers in the night. When she encounters an attractive but disturbing musician, her wayward heart awakens.

But then there is Kai, a guardian of Faeraven and of Shae. Secrets bind him to her, and her safety lies at the center of every decision he makes. On a desperate journey fraught with peril and the unknown, they battle warlike garns, waevens, ferocious raptors, and the wraiths of their own regrets. Yet, they must endure the campaign long enough to release the DawnKing—and the salvation he offers—into a divided land. To prevail, each must learn that sometimes victory comes only through surrender. 

Learn More.

Medieval Foods

The foods eaten in medieval times were both similar and different than those we enjoy today. In a castle, meals were usually taken in the great hall, a chamber often located on an upper floor. Servants carrying hot dishes from the kitchen (found on a lower level or in separate building) had to hurry to deliver food that still contained some warmth.

Class considerations dictated diets, the order in which people were served, and the way they behaved at table. Three meals were served: breakfast, dinner, and supper. The use of alcoholic beverages at meals in the Middle Ages was a  widespread preventative measure that guarded against contracting illnesses from drinking unsanitary water.

Illustration from The Decameron, Flanders, 1432. Paris, Biblioteque nationale, Département des manuscrits, Français 5070 fol. 132. {{PD-BnFMandragorePic}}  

Breakfast

For servants,breakfast might consist of a portion or coarse bread and some ale or cider. Those of noble birth ate cold sliced meat, cheese, white bread that had been thrice milled to remove impurities and improve its texture. and a cup of wine.

Dinner

 Served around midday, dinner was the main repast of the day. A trumpeter or cryer summoned the diners, and then pages would bring a wash bowl and poured water from elaborate pitchers so that those seated at the lord's table could wash their hands. Others washed in lavers before seating themselves at trestle tables below the dais elevating the lord's table. The benches they sat on might later serve as their beds.

Silver salt cellars sat on the tables and cups fashioned from silver, pewter, wood, or horn. More exotic materials for cups used by the nobility included ostrich eggs, agate, and gourds. Guests were expected to supply their own knives. Forks didn't come into popular use until the Renaissance period, and it was considered bad manners (and probably not very smart) to put food into your mouth with a knife. People either ate with spoons, as in the case of soups and stews, or with their fingers.

Visiting clergymen were the first served, followed by noble guests, the lord and his family, then the lower classes.Those at the lord's table were served from a silver platter while the common folk took their food from wooden platters. Until plates came into use late in the 14th century, flat pieces of bread known as trenchers held individual portions of food.

After the chaplain blessed the food, the first course would be served with bread and butter. Cupbearers made sure cups of wine, beer or ale did not run dry. Three or four courses usually made up a dinner. Elaborate feasts called for more courses that offered a stunning array of culinary delights.

Vegetables were considered food for commoners, so the lord and his guests dined mostly on meat and pastries. As might be imagined, this diet caused health complications.

A variety of flesh, fish, and fowl were consumed, including swans, peacocks, seals, dolphins, venison, and mutton. Common vegetables were onions, peas, beans, cabbage, parsley, shallots, and pot-herbs. Fruits eaten in the Middle Ages were apples, pears, plums, peaches, and nuts. These were cooked, since raw fruit was considered unhealthy. Meals ended with cheeses, cakes, wafers, spiced wine, cookies, waffles, and jellies.

After the diners finished eating, servants would gather the trenchers and bread liners to be distributed to the poor.

Merchants had a diet similar to that taken by the nobility, except that they also ate vegetables. Peasants in the country consumed more humble fare. They might take porridge, turnips, coarse bread, herbal salads dressed with vinegar or verjuice, and beer or ale. They could supplement with fish or pork and bacon, in season. Villagers might enjoy bread made from rye, barley, or wheat, plus peas or beans, oat cakes, porridge, fish, and cheese curds. They would wash down a meal with ale, mead, or cider.

Peasant meal.
Aristotle, Politiques et économiques, France, 15th century. Paris, Biblioteque nationale, Département des manuscrits, Français 22500.{{PD-BnFMandragorePic}}

Supper

Later in the day, it was time for a light supper that usually included a main dish, side dishes, and cheese. This meal ushered in the evening's entertainment.

A livery cupboard in or near the great hall welcomed unexpected guests in need of nourishment with bread, meat pies, cold meats, cheese, and libations. Some lords had livery cupboards in their chambers, but this was frowned upon as gluttonous by the church. 

Medieval Table Manners

Strict table manners were observed in the Middle Ages, with participants expected to wash their hands before eating, wipe their mouths before drinking (since cups were shared), take their food in small bites chewed slowly, avoid speaking with their mouths full, resist gnawing on bones, and leave their trencher for the poor. Some of the rules of etiquette they followed are still observed today. They weren't supposed to rest their elbows on the table, slurp their soup, belch at table, or feed scraps to dogs during the meal.. We find echoes of the rules they followed as we take our meals today.

About the Author

Escape into creative worlds of fiction with Janalyn Voigt, an author whose unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers.

Beginning with DawnSinger, Janalyn's epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams.

Janalyn is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

Source

The Writer's Guide to Everday Life in the Middle Ages (The British Isles from 500 to 1500) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Storytelling in the Bardic Tradition

Escape into creative worlds of fiction.

Statue of Michael Hogan, the Bard of Thomond by Amyr95 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Bardic storytelling had an important role in the history of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Bards were once thought to wield magic, but actually fulfilled a more prosaic function by keeping history and culture alive through storytelling. This was especially important during the cultural decline following the fall of the Roman Empire.

The word, 'bard,' derives from a Gaelic word that means 'to sing praise.' When the term first came into usage, it was not bestowed as a compliment. Bards were considered rootless wanderers. However, the entertaining nature of their offerings, their usefulness to convey oral history, and their acceptance by the nobility soon elevated their status.

As the first writers, bards left behind manuscripts that have become invaluable in giving us an unaltered glimpse into a bygone world. The epic poem, Beowulf, is one example of this type of work, and a collection of ancient Gaelic manuscripts can be found in the National Library of Ireland.

Bards still exist today in many cultures, continuing the time-honored tradition of centuries. They are unique in combining arts, such as music, poetry, acting, sleight-of-hand, sound effects, and creative storytelling. A masterful bard can transfix an audience. A bard is only half the storytelling team, with the listener as the other.

Being transported into a story by a gifted storyteller can seem magical, so it's not difficult to understand why bards were thought to possess supernatural abilities. However, a bard's true power lies in the ability to inspire the readers' imagination. As a novelist, I know that as the lifeblood of storytelling. Right now, I'm studying bardic storytelling in preparation for my upcoming Story Circle Podcast, in which I'll answer the challenge of reading my original fiction in the bardic tradition.

Learn More About Janalyn Voigt's Story Circle Podcast.

About the Author

Escape into creative worlds of fiction with Janalyn Voigt. Her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales of Faeraven, her epic fantasy series that begins with DawnSinger, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams. Janalyn is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, Janalyn loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors.

Courtly Love in Medieval Times

Courtly Love in Medieval Times

The idealized image of a lady favoring a knight who fought in a tournament for her is what many of us understand as courtly love in medieval times. However, the pursuit of romantic love in the middle ages wasn't such a romanticized ideal. In medieval times, most marriages were arranged or entered into for practical purposes rather than for love.

The concept of chaste and unrequited love, even for those who were married to others, spread like wildfire across medieval Europe and was in practice from the 1300's through the 1500's. Andreas Cappelanus, writing in the 12th-Century, described love as "a certain inborn suffering derived from the sight of and excessive meditation upon the beauty of the opposite sex." With this mindset, besotted poets were said to moan like moon-struck calves.

Such a system, based on the flawed idea that man is basically good and can control his behavior, flew in the face of Biblical precepts about marital faithfulness. It led to all sorts of trouble. Most of us have heard the cautionary tale of Guinevere, King Arthur's wife, and Sir Launcelot, a knight of the round table, who engaged in a love affair that led to tragedy. Although a fictitious interpretation of the Arthurian legend, this story aligned to the reality of illicit court romances engaged in during the Middle Ages. 

The arranged marriages of the middle ages seem odd to us now but explains how the cult of courtly love took hold.

Wayfarer, Tales of Faeraven

In my medieval epic fantasy novel, Wayfarer, which is based on 13th-Century Europe. the high king of Faeraven was expected to marry a princess from a neighboring kingdom by his parents and hers. At first the idea repels Elcon, but he soon finds himself attracted to this chosen bride and promises to court her when he returns from a peace-keeping campaign. His stirrings of desire for a princess of a hostile nation test his honor and threaten to tear apart the very fabric of Elderland.

Escape into creative worlds of fiction with Janalyn Voigt. 

Her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales of Faeraven, her epic fantasy series beginning with DawnSinger, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams.

Janalyn is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA.

When she's not writing, Janalyn loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors.

Author Site for Janalyn Voigt: (author journals, travel journals, guest journals, and book news)

Site for Writers: Live Write Breathe (teaching articles plus a free How to Edit PDF)

My Hidden Writing Office (And What Inspired It)

In Medieval times, secret passages served as hidden supply routes for use during sieges, gave access to underground water supplies, or enabled hasty escapes in a crisis. Of course a secret passage might prove a weakness, as when in 1330 an armed group of attackers entered Nottingham castle through a secret tunnel to arrest Roger Mortimer, 1^st Earl of March, and free his captive, King Edward III.

I confess to a childish love of secret passages and hidden chambers. I included tunnels beneath the high hold of Faeraven in DawnSinger and Wayfarer, the first two books of my Tales of Faeraven medieval fantasy trilogy.  

My Hidden Writing Office in a Closet

But writing about such things wasn’t enough for me, apparently. I also moved my office into a three-by-seven closet under the stairs in my home. If that sounds claustrophic, let me assure you, it’s not. My closet office must have been used as a children’s playroom by a previous owner because the walls are wallpapered in vintage scenes of children playing, and there’s a door with a colored-glass window beside my chair. There’s also a huge keyhole beneath the antique doorknob and gaps at the top and bottom of the door that ensure adequate ventilation.  

When I posted about my office-in-a closet hits to my website spiked, and it wound up being featured in the Seattle Times. Apparently, a lot of other people share my yearning for a hidden retreat in which to work, either that or they want a glimpse of the eccentric writer who would inhabit such a work space.

What I find amusing is that I’ve had to move over a little and share my hideaway once in a while with other family members, who think it’s pretty cool. I don't mind. It's awfully quiet when they're in the closet, and when it’s my turn, my family interrupts me a lot less.  

Read more about my closet writing office and see the picture the Seattle Times featured.

Wayfarer, Tales of Faeraven 2 

When an untried youth ascends to the high throne of Faeraven, his mistakes tear kingdoms apart and allow just one chance at redemption. He must humble himself before the one person he banished.

Purchase Wayfarer

DawnSinger, Tales of Faeraven 1

A headstrong young princess and the guardian sworn to protect her fly on winged horses to the Gate of Life above the Well of Light in a desperate bid to release the DawnKing, and the salvation he offers, into a divided land. Will they each learn in time that sometimes victory comes only through surrender?
Purchase DawnSinger

About Janalyn Voigt. 

When Janalyn was a child, her father read classic literature to her at bedtime, instilling in her a love of story. With a teacher's encouragement, she decided to become a writer at the tender age of twelve.

Beginning with DawnSinger, Janalyn's medieval epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries the reader into a land only imagined in dreams. Janalyn is also working on a romantic suspense novel set in a castle. She is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary.
When Janalyn is not writing, she loves to find adventures in the great outdoors.

Janalyn posts interesting details from her research, travel journals, author journals, and updates about her books at her Creative Worlds website.