Catherine, Called Birdy Essay

1. Marriage

1.1. Page 221

1.2. Marriages were arranged to increase land, gain allies, or pay back debts. Women were essentially property, used to further a family's alliances, wealth, or status.

1.3. Catherine fought years of training and tradition in opposing her marriage to Shaggy Beard. Most girls would have consented, knowing no alternative.

1.4. 13th day of January, Cushman wrote, "It appears the curse has worked. George returned last night from York to say that Aelis has been married to the seven-year-old- duke of Warrington....."

1.5. 17th day of April, Cushman wrote, "Of course, Lord Rollo. Acknowledging that, the great Lord Murgaw, the Baron Selkirk, Lord of Lithgow, Smithburn, Random, and Fleece, put aside reasonable demands and bade me ask for dowry only your wife's manor of Greenwood, which lies next his own, four hundred silver coins, six oxen..."

2. Class roles in Feudal Society

2.1. Those on the bottom paid rent to those above, who paid it to the king, and everyone owed protection to those below them, making a great circle with everyone connected, The king was in cooperation with the lowest landholder, for the small bits of poor land in the farthest village could be traced back to the king, and the king owed patronage and protection to all his people

2.2. Page 8

2.3. 29th day of September, Cushman wrote, "Today is quarter-rent day. My greedy father is near muzzle-witted with glee from the geese, silver pennies, and wagonloads of manure our tenants pay him.

3. Life in a city

3.1. In Medieval city, they are filled with many people, shops and festivals

3.2. Page 160

3.3. Page 185

3.4. 19th day of June, Cushman wrote, "From our room in the inn I could hear the sharp cracking of horses' hooves on cobblestone, the cries of merchants and peddlers, the cook boys calling 'Hot pies! Fat pigs and geese! Come and eat!' and the incredible noise of too many people in too small a space........The crowded city swarmed with dogs, cats, roosters, geese, pigs, horses, merchants, travelers, housewives hurrying to market, children running with their buckets to the well, serving maids emptying chamber pots, and all manner of busy, bustling creatures."

3.5. 23rd day of August, Cushman wrote, "Here at the fair is a dancing bear, moth-eaten and scrawny, anxious only to be taken home and fed and not prodded and pinched to do silly tricks for fairgoers."