A Visit in the Middle Ages
By Matthew Bulliner
My dear Count Salsibury,
I am glad to have a have one of my own country to write too, and even more so, you, as a good friend. I have now been two weeks at the court of King Charles of France, and have seen many interesting sights. As soon as I arrived the king personally sent for me, and welcomed me to his court. The king himself is the perfect specimen of a ruler, he is six foot five inches with his shoes on, and has broad shoulders. He has a deep and firm voice, yet kind also. His favorite colors are purple and blue, and ninety-nine percent of the time these are the colors he is wearing. He is diligent in his duties and always endeavors to be just. He loves to fight with sword and lance, though few dare challenge him, seeing as he is considered the best knight in all Europe.
After the first visit with king I felt pretty much at home. And that night was invited to a royal banquet. All the great nobles of the kingdom were at this feast. The room in which the banquet was held was a stone hall with rows of wooden tables and benches, and thousands of candles. When they brought the food out I thought that I had never smelled such a heavenly aroma. Not even our own King Edward III ever had a feast like this. There were countless types of game, foul, and fish there, not to mention the vegetables and bread. Many people were at the banquet, over five hundred lords and ladies dressed in their splendidly colorful robes, and also musicians and jugglers to entertain. As you may guess the noise in the hall was quite prodigious. All this quite dazzled me for a moment, but I soon got used to it.
My favorite food at the feast was, and mark the was, a type of meat ( I did not know what it was at the time ) that tasted particularly good. It didn’t look that appetizing, but as the cook said it was his specialty and everyone else was trying it, I eventually did too. On picking one of the bite size pieces up I found it moderately firm, but juicy. As I put it to my nose I found that I smelled just like all the other meat. Once I tasted it I found it to be the most delicious thing I had ever eaten. Everyone seemed to like it, and it was soon gone. The king then asked the cook what it was, and the cook replied that it was roasted cat liver. The king after being assured that it was not poisonous, immediately discharged him, because being a kind king he did not want to have him executed. Needless to say everyone was feeling rather sick once we heard that, and that was the end of that feast, nobody daring to try anything else.
The next day there was a joust in which all the knights participated, including myself. The jousting field was a significant sight to behold. There were many people in the stands, ranging from noble dressed in fine clothes, to serfs in rags. There were dozens of tents and hundreds of banners beside the field. There was a smell of food in the air as men went around selling snacks to the people, and making a good deal of money I might add. The sound of thousands of people talking and armor clinking were to be heard. It was truly a wonderful sight.
The most interesting fight of the day was between Sir Gregory Mortimer and Sir Einstein de inventor. The two contestants had quite different appearances. Sir Gregory was six foot nine inches tall and very strong. He was wearing a complete suit of shiny silver armor and wore his orange and black cognize on both breast and back plates. He was mounted on a humongous black war horse and carried in his hand a long lance. Before he let his visor fall, you could see a mocking smile on his face, undoubtedly meant for the “Little Einstein.” Einstein on the other hand stood only five foot four inches tall. His horse “chunky” was a gray and a smallish animal, but was rumored to be very fast and strong, because of a secret substance that Einstein fed it. He himself also wore silver colored armor, said to be made of mithril but no cognize. As he mounted his horse he was handed by his esquire a short but heavy lance that appeared to have a trigger on it. They looked quite different indeed!
The fight was about to begin and both of them lined up, leveled their lances, and charged. When they were ten yards away, the front of Sir Einstein’s lance broke off, and somehow went flying at Sir Gregory at an extraordinary rate of speed. It hit Sir Gregory right in the middle of the chest and he fell off his horse with a thud. He was okay but swore revenge at the “lucky Einstein” next time they should meet at a tournament. I was also told that Sir Einstein de inventor always seemed to get lucky, especially in times like this.
The only reason I am writing this letter to you is because I too was beaten in the tournament, and am so bruised that I have had to keep my bed, and the king graciously loaned me his secretary. I hope you have enjoyed this letter, please give my love to father and mother.
Yours Truly,
Prince Edward IV of England
