During the Middle Ages, there was no television, no telephone, and no postal service. If you wanted to talk to someone who was far away, you had to write them a letter and send it by private messenger. A letter was written on parchment (the skin of a sheep or goat) with ink made of soot mixed with gum or acid and a goose quill pen. After the letter had been written, the parchment was carefully folded, had holes punched into it, and a string was carefully strung through the holes. Then, the sender would stick a dab of hot wax or molten lead on the strings to hold them together, and imprint the hot liquid with his seal. The seal was an image that was unique to the sender. It might be the coat of arms of his family or an image that he especially liked. Often, the seal was on a ring that the writer always wore. The letter was then given to a messenger, who took it to the recipient. The receiver would examine the strings and the seal to ensure that the letter had not been secretly read by someone else.

This worked well for sending messages between the members of nobility who were taught to read and write and could afford to hire a messenger. The common people, though, depended on traveling merchants and tinkers to bring them news from other places. Travel was slow so sometimes the news might be weeks, months, or even years old by the time the villagers heard it.

References:

Sobol, David. The First Book of Medieval Man. Franklin Watts, Inc. New York. 1959.