Entry 7

Today is one of the coldest days of my life. My mom and dad are very sad and no one is running the bakery today. Instead we went to see a play in front of the church.

We don’t have much time for entertainment because we have work to do. When we have a little of free time we go to see plays outside the church. They make dramas about the old testament. My favorite play is the one about Noah and the flood.

Entry 6

Health is not the best. There are many people sick and they are suffering. Doctors are only available to the nobles, so we pray to get healthy.

Today we are sad, Margaret died in the morning. We do not have an explanation of why she died. My mom is very sad because we were not able to burry her body in the church´s cemetery because we don’t have the money to afford a space (we just paid taxes two days ago).

 

Entry 5

There is a small church were we attend to mass. It is very small with a capacity of 20 people. It is made of stone and has one bell tower. The priest does not know too much about the bible or God´s teachings. We pay alms to the church every time we attend to it.

The king lives in a great stone castle. The castle is always being protected by knights and only noble people can enter.

I live on a little house which only has two rooms, one for my parents and one for my sister and me. On the center of the house we have a small heart where we cook our food and provide us heat. My house is very cold and the floor is of dirt. We don’t have windows so it is very dark inside.

The king and the nobles live on a great castle made of stone. The castle is protected by knights and only nobles can enter.

Today mom took Margaret to the church. The priest told mom that the best thing to do was to wait and pray. Apparently Margaret did not feel better, she felt worse.

Entry 4

We eat our food in wood dishes. Since we are a bakers family we always have loafs of bread to eat. We normally eat pottage, which is a kind of soup made with cabbage, leeks and onions, and a little of cheese (which I like a lot).}

Today we paid the taxes to the land lord. In total we paid 50 golden coins.

Margaret has not become better so mom is taking her tomorrow to church to see what is wrong with her.

Entry 3

My clothes are very old, I have used them for almost a year. They consist of a grey wool tunic, it´s hard and has been remedied by my mom several times. I also have leather boots, which are also very hard and uncomfortable. We don´t have the enough money for buying new clothes. It´s cheaper for my mom to patch my clothes than to buy new ones.

Today we got the enough money for paying the taxes to the land lord.

Margaret is still bad, she does not have energy for anything and spent all the day sleeping. She did not ate anything according to mom.

Entry 2

Today I helped my dad to carry the bags of flour all the way from the market to our store. We buy the flour a merchant in the market, every bag costs one golden coin. My dad is a little nervous because in two days we must pay the taxes to the land lord and we have not collect the enough money to pay.

We are a family of bakers. We have a small store where we sell loafs of bread every day. It is a good occupation since everyone in the kingdom eats bread. On an ordinary day we earn approximately five gold coins.

When we returned from work we noticed that Margaret wasn’t feeling very good she have headache and didn´t wanted to eat all day long.

Entry 1

My name is Alexander the baker, son from Philip the baker. I am writing this diary so I can keep record of my life and also for future generations to know better how is my life.

It is the year 981, and I live in the Kingdom of England. The king is Ethelred II the Unready. It is November and temperatures are very cold.

My family is formed by:

      Philip the baker (dad)

      Clarice (mom)

      Margaret (my younger sister)

Normally my sister Margaret is playing all day long while my mom is cooking and my dad and I go to work at our small shop to sell bread. Tomorrow I would tell you more about our job.

Draft

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