Name: Homes Through History | Episode 3: Medieval Merchant’s House
Uploaded: 2021-11-03T20:05:05.000Z
Duration: 6 min 50 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

good day to you, And welcome to the 14's house on French Street, South Hampton.

My name is Marian, and I live here with my husband, esteemed wine cellar, john Fulton And our two Children.

The boy thomas and house servants, Adam and Anna.

We're celebrating the safe arrival of our wine fleet from Gascony in France.

Fortunately they managed to avoid the hands of those wretched Britain pirates this time, While Master 14 is busy with deliveries.

You can smell the sea air and hear the cargo being unloaded from the great ships arriving here daily at the ports of Southampton.

You'll find many merchants living around here.

Others will, or even woven cloth to ship to bordeaux.

Of course we make our trade here in wine and keep ourselves very busy in our shop selling wine.

Is it true that you make wine by crushing grapes with your feet?

The grapes are crushed in huge vats by foot.

I understand the whole village sometimes gets involved.

Hi, my name's Alicia and I'm eight years old.

What's your typical day like as woman of the household?

Anna and I are up at dawn to set to work scouring the house to keep it free from dust.

Then there's always food to prepare for dinner, pewter, to polish tables to set for supper and linens to launder for our chamber upstairs.

When I'm not serving customers in the shop, I may even do some accounting by tying knots in string.

Each knot represents 12 pennies or a shilling.

You see, you can never be too careful with so much wealth in the house.

And of course I have to care for our two Children, school them, teach them how to cook and run a household.

What other questions did you have for me?

Hi, I'm hal and I'm nine years old greetings.

My husband had it constructed using profits from our business.

We're very proud of the wine shop at the front.

Then there's a kitchen at the back where we prepare food for the family.

And then on this floor our two chambers where we sleep.

This is the master chamber overlooking the street.

And there's another at the back for the Children.

The main hall where I dine with Master Fulton and the Children.

Master porter and I enjoy a very good life here in Southampton and are able to provide well for our Children and servants.

Indeed, last year we made the handsome sum of £250 selling wine.

Most of our earnings are made here in the shop, selling wine by the jug at a penny a point.

But those more affluent folk will only by our Hippocratic, very sweet wine at six pence a pint.

We always keep our seller well stocked as we don't like to disappoint our customers.

We have a great many fireplaces in our home.

It takes a lot of fuel, mind heating a house with two floors.

The kitchen fire is always well lit day and night.

And now that winter is coming, we'll light the fireplace in the hall as well, which keeps the whole house lovely and warm.

Besides, I never feel the cold going up and down those stairs all day.

And watch your favorite room in the house.

We have a stone fireplace here instead of a central half.

This means we can heat the whole house whilst keeping out the smoke smell that fresh air.

Our guests always admire the white, lime washed walls and our brightly colored furniture.

Then of course you must take a closer look at the grand estate cloth.

It was made especially for my husband and symbolizes his status as Freeman and a merchant with allegiance to the city of Southampton and the Crown.

Now I must send anna out by fish at the market.

You see Fish Day and I thought we could have baked herring for dinner.