Construct an Analogous Day Set in 1400-1500 CE

Living in 1400s

(Since I know not how to read and write, my master is completing this for me as I speak.)

It seemed like the sun rose earlier this morning. It came through the window of my thatched-roof house and awoke me and my animals who live in the back quarter. The winter is very cold for all my family in this small home, and we look forward to the spring time coming. My tunic and leggings do not but keep me warm. Before going to work for the day, I fed the animals and cleaned the hut. I would be too tired to do so upon my return tonight.

For myself, I ate my wheat meal bread and cheese as most people do here. I had water to drink. Yesterday, my mother ground and sifted the wheat and put it in a bread pan with warm water with salt. After adding the right amount of leaven, she put it in a damp place to let it rise. She baked it last night.

I packed a small amount of the meat of the pig that my master was kind enough to provide me, turnips and wine. I dreamed of fresh fruit that I hear they eat at the castle. I headed out for another day of work.

I went into town to my master's home. I am an apprentice for a doctor, who is in the minor guild. It is very difficult to become a journeyman and then a master, since the guild is very strict. I do not know what the future holds for me. Because he is the only man who knows medicine for many miles, my master is always very busy. He is teaching me that people become ill when their body humors of yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm are out of balance. He does blood letting when the humors are bad. He also calls on the patron saint for help. Surely, when people are ill it is because they are being punished by God for sinful behavior.

My master is a very learned man. He knows how to treat with special herbs, ground earthworms, urine and animal excrement. Some of his remedies have many, many ingredients that I have to gather. When called upon by a family with someone who is ill, he often looks at the color of the patient's urine to determine the treatment. He also takes the pulse and collects blood samples. My master lives in a better home than most in the town and has much wealth, for only those who are of high standing can afford his services. I am very fortunate to work with him.

I am a young man on the verge of adulthood. This year I became twenty. I was born in the spring, about the time the present baron came to live in the manor by the decree of the king. My mother recalls that it was during Rogation Days, when the priest leads a procession about the boundaries of the village fields, halting at all corners to ask God's blessing on all growing things. She says it was a good year and that was why I was born to her.

Tomorrow the festival of Saint Valentine's Day will be held. My master says that a man, a great writer, who goes by the name of Chaucer tells of this day: "For this was on Seynt Valentynes day, Whan every foul cometh theere to chese his make [mate] ... " Elizabeth, who is 16 years of age, will place her name in the urn. I and many other young men will want to draw her name from the receptacle, with hope of romance. She is very beautiful. Sometimes my heart is light because of her smile to me. Yet it will be our parents who decide if we join together.