The medieval nobleman spent his leisure time hunting, playing games, singing or playing a musical instrument. Special entertainments consisted of tournaments, dances and plays. Books were rarely read, because they were rare and expensive and most of the nobility was illiterate.
In the countryside, there were also many opportunities for amusement. Work was strictly forbidden on Church holidays and on Sundays, and there were many more feast days than there are today. In the case of certain professions, the working week could also be interrupted due to weather or unpredictable events. In all there were about 190 working days in the year, roughly 20 days per month or 4-5 days a week.
The most popular medieval board games were chess, draughts (checkers), backgammon, Mill (also called Nine Men’s Morris), Hnefatafl, Fox and Geese and dice. Ball games were also played. Chess was costly and time consuming to play and was therefore restricted mainly to noble circles. Burghers favoured draughts and common folk were fond of the simpler games of dice and Mill. Cards and card games already existed in Europe at the end of the 14th century, but only spread more widely later with the spread of printing. The bourgeois, emulating the nobility in their leisure time, took to bird shooting, for example. During the 15th century archery fellowships began to form in the townships.
Gambling was also widespread throughout the Middle Ages, regardless of gender or status, which is evidenced, for example, by the Maiestas Carolina Act of December 1357, in which Emperor Charles IV himself forbade gambling at Christmas time and commissioned Prague Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice to penalise offenders of any social class with fines as well as spiritual penance (in extreme cases, even excommunication).
The medieval nobleman spent his leisure time hunting, playing games, singing or playing a musical instrument. Special entertainments consisted of tournaments, dances and plays. Books were rarely read, because they were rare and expensive and most of the nobility was illiterate.
In the countryside, there were also many opportunities for amusement. Work was strictly forbidden on Church holidays and on Sundays, and there were many more feast days than there are today. In the case of certain professions, the working week could also be interrupted due to weather or unpredictable events. In all there were about 190 working days in the year, roughly 20 days per month or 4-5 days a week.
The most popular medieval board games were chess, draughts (checkers), backgammon, Mill (also called Nine Men’s Morris), Hnefatafl, Fox and Geese and dice. Ball games were also played. Chess was costly and time consuming to play and was therefore restricted mainly to noble circles. Burghers favoured draughts and common folk were fond of the simpler games of dice and Mill. Cards and card games already existed in Europe at the end of the 14th century, but only spread more widely later with the spread of printing. The bourgeois, emulating the nobility in their leisure time, took to bird shooting, for example. During the 15th century archery fellowships began to form in the townships.
Gambling was also widespread throughout the Middle Ages, regardless of gender or status, which is evidenced, for example, by the Maiestas Carolina Act of December 1357, in which Emperor Charles IV himself forbade gambling at Christmas time and commissioned Prague Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice to penalise offenders of any social class with fines as well as spiritual penance (in extreme cases, even excommunication).