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Primogeniture
The military was an option for many sons. A knight began
his training as a young boy and advanced to the rank of squire at about
the age of fifteen. When the overlord considered the young squire worthy,
he was proclaimed a knight, and was entitled to the honorific title "Sir."
Knights were expected to be chivalrous. Chivalry was a set of rules for
honorable behavior followed by the knights. The term chivalry now refers
to aristocratic display and pu A third option was to acquire a trade. There were no trade schools in the Middle Ages. A father would pay a master to teach his son a trade. The boy would become an apprentice, and often live with the family of the master tradesman. After a period of about seven years, the boy became a journeyman. He could now work in his trade and be paid for his work. If he were an expert in his trade, he might create a masterpiece and become a master himself, able to employ apprentices of his own. A girl might look toward marriage in her future. A dowry
was a present of money, goods, or sometimes land given by a bride’s
father to her husband. The dowry, however, was for his use, not hers.
A dowry was thought to make a young girl more attractive to a potential
husband. A large dowry might make it possible for a young lady to attract
a rich landholder. Many girls entered the clergy as nuns, while others
worked as servants at the manor house. |
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Primogeniture
is a system of inheritance where all property is handed down to the first-born
son. In the Middle Ages, the oldest son would become the Lord of the Manor
upon the death of his father, much in the same way that the oldest son
of a king would gain the crown. The younger sons would have to find other
careers.
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ceremony rather than good manners.