What kinds of jobs does people do in a medieval castle?

Answer 1

"Castle" has been used to describe fortified manor houses (not strictly accurately), keeps, palaces, castles in which royalty/nobility lives (at least part-time), castles in which royalty/nobility does NOT live (run by a Castellan), and various other fortifications.

Depending on the size of the place, and the wealth of its owner, there would be more or less staff. Impoverished nobles would have to be satisfied with a minumum of staff (sad, apocryphal tales exist of those left with only one faithful servant), while a head of state of a wealthy nation could hire as many as he/she pleased.

First thing you'd need, starting at the bottom, was a cleaning staff. The place starts to look run-down pretty quickly without one. These low-ranking members of the staff would report to a head maid, or, possibly, directly to the Chamberlain or Seneschal, these two being concerned with the Great Hall and castle finances for the former, and estate and domestic administration and special events, for the latter. Some, larger castles, distinguished between the higher-ranked chambermaids and the lower-ranked below-stairs maids, the difference being whether you had direct contact with the high-ranked, being in charge of cleaning their rooms.

Additionally, you'd need a chapel (no castle being without one) where the lord/lady could receive mass. The person in charge of this would be the chaplain, and he might have one or more assistants.

Each castle also had a cook staff, with a head cook (traditionally, at least for part of the medieval period, male, at least in most places. Lifting heavy iron grills and large, shield-sized breads, subtleties and large meats for roasting could be a major test of strength, though smaller foods (breads, meat pies, sops, and so forth) were also prepared. This head cook might also be halfway to being a medieval doctor; many recipes were listed in old manuscripts as being for the treatment of this or that ailment. The head cook would have been in charge of the scullions, those who washed and cleaned the kitchen utensils, and would have had a cookstaff, a number of assistant cooks, preparers and servers. Once the servers reached the Dining Hall, however, they shifted to the responsibility of the Seneschal, who was there to make sure they were in their places, and didn't do anything stupid, like pouring hot sops (sort of soup poured over bread) into M'Lord Hoity Toity's hair.

Of course, many of the royalty had an official doctor. In some places he was called a "barber," and also cut hair, in some places he was called a Leech. Puns, notwithstanding.

You'd also, in places with a full-siezed staff, see a Butler (in charge of wine and beer), Clerk (a bookkeeper - you'd need at least one for the house accounts, and possibly one for transport, and possibly one or more for castle inventory), Gong Farmer (in charge of emptying latrine pits, for castles that had them), groundskeepers, Keeper of the Wardrobe (in charge of the laundry, and any seamstresses and tailors), ladies' maids (keeping the noble women, if any, properly groomed and dressed), Master of the Hunt (for when the nobility went out for "venison," which, originally, meant "hunted-for meat") assisted by various huntsmen, Bailiff (in charge of planning work outside the castle, done by peasants), Hayward (to take care of hedges, if any), Herald (in charge of knowing who had what symbol attached to them), Pages (in charge of messages in-house and small tasks), Messengers (in charge of messages going in and out of the house), Reeve (in charge of being on-the-spot to supervise work on the castle-owner's property), Personal attendants (sort of a group of "appropriate people" to hang out with for some of the castle's residents), an almoner (in charge of alms to the poor), cupbearers (to check for poison), a bathman (in charge of the bathtub both in the castle, and, when the noble traveled or during fair weather, outside the castle; he might have been assisted by one or more Ewerers, in charge of transporting hot water to the bath) and, possibly, a butcher (though this function might be fulfilled by the cooks).

Some castles might also have a lamplighter, in charge of lighting lanterns, candles and rushlights (a reed dipped in grease, held by a clip on a holder), though this would usually have been delegated to the chambermaids. Keep in mind that until the 14th century, the floor would have been covered by rushes or later, sometimes with herbs. Lighting the lanterns without catching the place on fire would have to have been a priority.

Each castle would also have a guard, though the standing garrison of the castle would have been small during the early middle ages. This guardian staff would have included a Porter (also known as a doorward) who kept track of who came and left, and made sure no one did either without permission. Additionally, any Knights in residence, and Squires (a combination of Knight-in-Training and general dogsbody for a particular knight) would have been part of this force, and, in most cases, by Watchmen.

In general, there would have been a group of people in charge of animals, and the variety of animals would have varied from castle to castle. This would, generally, include a number of horses; in fact, in 1451 and 1452, King Henry the VIII decreed that nobles of a certain status would be required to maintain at least 7 horses of at least 14 hands, each. Thus, the need for a Master of Horse, a Stablemaster (assuming the two weren't the same person) and hostlers/groomszperiodz In addition, in charge of teams of horses would have been teamsters, and in charge of transport, carts, containers, and so on, would have the Marshal.

Additional animal handlers would likely include a Falconer, the Master of the Hounds, and a variety of houndsmen for handling the dogs during hunts.

Various castles also had craftspeople associated or resident. The first, most likely one would have been a blacksmith capable of doing farrier work (shoing horses), weaponsmithing and armory (to keep the garrison supplied), hinges, nails, tools (for the peasants working around the castle), and so on.

However, many castle owners would also have workers in crafts both for the use of the nobility resident, and for providing exportable goods. While a castle might have one or a few of these, no castle would have had them all (and would, instead, hire out). These crafters could include woodworkers, tanners, soapmakers, chandlers, weavers, fullers, carders, spinsters, tailors and seamstresses, bottlers, brewers, vintners, glaziers, shoemakers, and just about any medieval craft or industry.

Last, but not least, there was generally entertainment; whether an on-staff minstrel for genteel entertainment during milady's embroidery session, or a hired, full-size band for dances and so forth. There might be musicians, tumblers, and so on.

Answer 2

People has different priorities, such as:

The butler- Stores the food

Lady and Lord- In charge

Steward- Lord number 1. (the back-up)

Bailiff- In charge of villages, like the police

The Clerk- In charge of Administration

Priest- Baptised people, sunday service

Pantler- Food and drinks storer

The Marshal- In charge of the castle rooms

- From Ellie age 12

Answer 3

medieval people who worked in medieval castles back in 11th century was hard for those people, jobs were hard and the wage was minimum. the lords would have servants and cookers. life inside the castle isn't all glamour or what people expect it to be.

servants had to do what the lord/king asked them to do

cookers had to buy their own food to serve the lord/king but some found it hard as the lord/king ask for lots of meat which was expensive

I hope this helped!

Answer 4

a job of a servant is to clean ,wash clothes and do things for people

Answer 5

Cleaning