The fortress
also contained a garrison, armory, chapels, stables, forge,
wardrobe for a tailor's workroom and secure storage of valuable
clothes, silver plate, and expensive imports such as sugar, rice,
almonds, dried fruits, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, galingale,
zedoary, pepper, nutmeg, and mace. There was a kitchen with
courtyard for cattle, poultry, and pigs; dairy, pigeon loft,
brewery, beehives, fruit stores, gardens for vegetables and herbs;
and sheds for gardeners. There was also a mint, which minted a
gold penny worth 2s. of silver, a jewel house, and a menagerie
(with leopards, lions, a bear, and an elephant). The fortress also
served as a state prison. Most prisoners there had opposed the
royal will; they were usually permitted to live in quarters in the
same style they were used to, including servants and visits by
family and friends. But occasionally prisoners were confined in
irons in dark and damp dungeons.
The King's family, immediate circle, and most distinguished guests
dined elegantly in the Great Hall at mid-day. They would first
wash their hands in hot water poured by servants over bowls. The
table had silver plate, silver spoons, and cups of horn, crystal,
maple wood, or silver laid on a white cloth. Each guest brought
his own knife in a leather sheath attached to a belt or girdle. A
procession of servitors brought the many dishes to which the
gentlemen helped the ladies and the young their seniors by placing
the food in scooped-out half loaves of bread that were afterwards
distributed to the poor.
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