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Middle Ages

Troubadours and Minstrels

Troubadours and Minstrels
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.65

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    acrobatics, troubadour, minstrel, medieval, leadership, multi-colored, patron, social, entertainment, fairs, literature, performers, appeal, heroic, widely, wherever
     content words:    Middle Ages, No Play Stations, Middle East, King Richard

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Troubadours and Minstrels
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     People of the Middle Ages are often portrayed as an entertaining, fun-loving crowd. Yet, they didn't have any of the fun stuff that we have today. No Play Stations. No computer games. No cable TV, or even TV from an antenna. No movies on DVD; no movies at the movie theatre. No music videos; no downloadable tunes; no CDs.
 
2     So what did they do for entertainment?
 
3     In the early years, royal courts hired servants who served as singers and storytellers. These entertainers, known as minstrels, often dressed in bright, multi-colored costumes, sometimes decorated with bells.
 
4     Sometimes these minstrels composed their own tunes to sing for the knights and ladies. Sometimes they memorized long ballads that they had heard sung by another minstrel.

Paragraphs 5 to 14:
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