in scooped-out half-loaves of bread that were afterwards
distributed to the poor. A wine cup was handed around the table.
In the winter after dinner, there would often be games of chess or
dice or songs of minstrels, and sometimes dancing, juggler or
acrobat displays, or storytelling by a minstrel. In the summer
there were outdoor games and tournaments. Hunting with hounds or
hawks was popular with both ladies and gentlemen. The King would
go to bed on a feather mattress with fur coverlet that was
surrounded by linen hangings. His grooms would sleep on trundle
beds in the same room. The queen likewise shared her bedchamber
with several of her ladies sleeping on trundle beds. Breakfast was
comprised of a piece of bread and a cup of wine taken after the
daily morning mass in one of the chapels. Sometimes a round and
deep tub was brought into the bedchamber by servants who poured
hot water onto the bather in the tub. Baths were often taken in
the times of Henry III, who believed in cleanliness and
sanitation. Henry III was also noted for his luxurious tastes. He
had a linen table cloth, goblets of mounted cocoa-nut, a glass cup
set in crystal, and silk and velvet mattresses, cushions, and
bolster. He had many rooms painted with gold stars, green and red
lions, and painted flowers. To his sister on her marriage, he gave
goldsmith's work, a chess table, chessmen in an ivory box, silver
pans and cooking vessels, robes of cloth of gold, embroidered
robes, robes of scarlet, blue, and green fine linen, Genoese cloth
of gold, two napkins, and thirteen towels.

In the King's 1235 grant to Oxford, the Mayor and good men were
authorized to take weekly for three years 1/2 d. on every cart
entering the town loaded with goods, if it was from the county, or
1d. if it came from outside the county; 1/4 d. for every horse
load, except for brushwood; 1/2 d. on every horse, mare, ox, or
cow brought to sell; and 1/2 d. for every five sheep, goats, or
pigs.

English ships had one mast with a square sail. The hulls were made
of planks overlapping each other. There was a high fore castle
[tower] on the bow, a top castle on the mast, and a high stern
castle from which to shoot arrows down on other ships. There were
no rowing oars, but steering was still by an oar on the starboard
side of the ship. The usual carrying capacity was 30 tuns [big
casks of wine each with about 250 gallons]. On the coasts there
were lights and beacons. Harbors at ri