disarmed her
imaginary foe. We read of the Knight of Kenilworth that he made a
round table of one hundred knights and ladies, to which came, for
exercise in arms, persons from different parts of the land.

In such setting is found the life of the woman of the day. But below
whatever of chivalry was to be found in this turbulent age, which
extended from the coming of William the Conqueror to the end of
the reign of Stephen, it was preeminently a rude, boisterous, and
uncultured era. The lack of uniformity of language was as much
opposed to the development of literature as was the general unsettled
condition of the times. Education, slight as it was, had suffered a
relapse, and it was not until the twelfth century that anything like
real literature was developed.

As the castle was the characteristic feature of the time, and within
its walls will be found much of the matters of interest relating
to the women of the day, a description of one of these domestic
fortresses will make clearer the customs of the times in so far as
they relate to the women of the higher classes.

The site selected for the ancient castle was always a hilltop or knoll
that lent itself to ready defence. The foot of the hill was enclosed
by a palisade and a moat; these circumvallations frequently rendered
successful assault impossible, and the only recourse open to the
attacking force was a protracted siege. As the stranger on peaceful
mission bent approached one of these massive structures, rearing its
frowning walls in silhouette against the blue of the sky, he could not
fail to be impressed with the majesty and grandeur of its walls and
turrets. He would notice the round-headed windows, with their lattice
of iron and the numerous slitlike openings which supplemented the
windows for the access of light and, as loopholes, played an important
part in the defence of the fortress. On coming to the gateway, flanked
on either side by bastions, pierced to admit of the flight of arrows,
the warden would open to him, and he would be conducted into a
courtyard, whose sides were made by the walls of the hall, the chapel,
the stable, and the offices. Within the courtyard, he would observe a
garden of herbs and edible roots, and also a fine display of flowers;
perhaps, too, a small enclosure in the nature of a cage, containing a
number of animals--the trained animal collection of the jongleurs, who
commonly attached themselves to the following of barons.