As you already know, the Roman Empire ruled much of Europe, so after its collapse, life was difficult and the Middle Ages was a long period in European history where people lived to simply survive. As a result of this challenging time in history, economic and political systems were developed to keep order.
Objective: To develop an understanding of the feudal system and the every day roles of citizens in the medieval era.
Project: You will be composing a fairy tale that illustrates the life and hardships of people in medieval and feudal times. Your fairytale will:
1) Include the main characteristics of a fairy tale which is to be:
2) Explain how the political feudal system worked and why it was created, without directly stating this. Be creative, show me don’t tell me!
3) Define the roles of people in feudal medieval Europe, without directly telling the reader. Show me don’t tell me!
4) Weave important medieval topics throughout the fairy tail including guilds, trading, diseases, medical treatment, crime and punishment, leisure and entertainment, homes and households. Your reader should understand what each of these terms mean after reading your fairytale, but remember, you will not directly tell the reader what these key terms are, rather you will show them! J
YOUR PROJECT CHECKLIST
1) Perform research by filling out the attached outline
2) Map out your fairytale ideas (use attached template to do this)
3) Compose a rough draft of your fairy tale
4) Revise your fairy tale to include parts that will educate the reader on how the feudal system worked and the daily lives of medieval citizens. So what does this mean?
If your story rough draft is complete, in the revision step you
might want to go and focus on describing your characters so that
the reader really understands how your main character, a
peasant girl, looked and felt on a daily basis.
If your story rough draft is complete, in the revision step you
might want to go back in to your story to add some great
imagery on what the home of your serf looked like.
5) Typed your fairy tale using ______and include some images to
enhance the story.
Medieval Fairy Tale Checklist
MAIN CHARACTERS:
peasants
1) the dress of peasants
2) the lifestyle of peasants
3) their role and treatment in society
4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced
5) their education
6) their living conditions, where they lived
7) health
nobility
1) the dress of the noble you choose to highlight
2) the lifestyle of nobels
3) their role and treatment in society, their importance
4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced
5) their education
6) overall understanding of what a vassal was and their job
7) living conditions, where they lived,
clergy
1) about them being exempt from taxes
2) their lifestyle/role and position in society
3) overall understanding of what a monk was and their job
4) overall understanding of what a friar was
5) living conditions, where they lived
EXTRA INFORMATION:
1) the atmosphere of a castle
2) what daily life was like in a castle (routine)
3) mention of the “ladies” of the castle and their job
4) mention some of the workers of the castle
5) how the castle protected itself
6) the atmosphere of a peasant home
7) mention 3 different types of entertainment and what they did to entertain
8) make sure to mention 3 trades/guilds and describe what the job was
9) mention black death and what the disease was and how it affected people
10) feudalism- how did it rule medieval life?
Some good websites
Daily life of people in Medieval Ages
Medieval Monarchs (kings and queens)
http://suite101.com/a/life-of-a-medieval-king-a355337
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Ancient-History/it-was-good-to-be-king-in-medieval-times.html
Medieval Nobility (Lords, Knights)
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-knight-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-noble-lord-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-noblewoman-middle-ages.htm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/clothing.html
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/nobles-in-the-middle-ages.html
http://prezi.com/ytpzso97bpnl/daily-life-of-a-noble-lord-in-the-middle-ages/
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/nobility.html
http://wccshoeing.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/life-as-a-noble/
Medieval Peasants
good definitions of peasants and overview of them on page 18 : http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
http://www.medievalmaidens.net/peasants.html
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-women-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-middle-ages.htm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/morcloth.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_peasants.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/commerce.htm
http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/middleages/feud_peasants.htm
Entertainment & Food:
http://www.lordsandladies.org/entertainment-middle-ages.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/food.htm
Medieval Peasant homes:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/homes.html
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/MedTowns.htm
Health and Lifestyle:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/MedTowns.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/health-in-the-middle-ages.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/diseases.htm
Church & Clergy/Bishops/Monks/Friar- pg 3
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/clergy-in-the-middle-ages.html
http://web.hcpss.org/~Sarah_Tokar/role%20of%20church.pdf
Nobility= King, Queens, Princesses, Vassals- pg 5
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Medieval Monarch Homes (Castles and Manors)
http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/life.htm
Trades in Medieval Times- pg 8
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Castle Workers- pg 9
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Entertainers- pg14
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Military- pg 15
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Black Death
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/the-black-death.html
Research
Feudalism
You may use your textbook and the Internet. It is suggested that you use both, to ensure that your research is thorough.
Good textbook pgs for research on feudalism are 19, 21 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Good websites:
The Feudal Structure of the Medieval World: http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/hifeudal.html
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/feudalism.htm
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
What was the feudal system and why was it necessary to develop a political system like this? (b19, b21. t22)
How was the feudal system set up? (b19, you will need to read t22 to understand who each picture is)
Understanding order in the feudal system: (tmb22)
All the land belonged to the ______and some of the land belonged to the ______. The King kept some land for himself and gave other land to the ______who in turned promised to protect him during times of war with knights.
Lords rented their land to ______who worked for them. There were two types of peasants and some were called ______who were tied to the land they worked on. They could not leave and had to ______
his ______in exchange for a small plot of land of their own.
Most Lords and knights lived on ______which were large estates, which included a ______or a manor house, one or more ______, and the surrounding ______. Manors were located in the ______, far from the towns. Peasants had to produce everything the people on the ______needed. Few goods came from outside of the manor for the Lords and the Monarchs.
Peasants
Typical Homes and Living Locations/Conditions
Typical view by society/Treatment by society
Typical Food & Entertainment
Typical Education and Status in Society
Typical Dress (men)
Typical Dress (women)
Daily activities- women
Daily activities- men
Typical Work/Career- women
Typical Work/Career- men
Were men and women peasants different treated differently?
Clergy
(the 2nd website has a lot of information)
Why were clergy exempt from paying taxes?
How did clergy people (all positions) help society, in general?
Who were monks? Describe their goals and lifestyle
Who were friars? Describe their goals and lifestyle
Nobility
--- you decide which one of these you want to describe in your story. If it’s your main character, then you will need a lot of information. If it’s a secondary character, then you will need some information. Below are the necessary things to discuss regardless of your characters position in the story.
Vassal
What was the vassal’s job and how/why did he take care of kings land?
You decide on a king/queen/or prince/princess/etc
Describe the person’s position and importance in Europe
Dress clothing, accessories, etc
Their lifestyle (luxuries, entertainment, hobbies)
Life in a castle
What was the atmosphere of a castle like (its looks and feeling)?
What was daily life like in castles, the jobs that needed to be done, regular occurrences?
What did the “ladies” of the castle do?
Who were some of the people that worked lived in the castles besides the nobility? Describe them and their job/role for living in the castle
How did castle protect itself?
Entertainers
What were 3 jobs of entertainers- describe the entertainment they performed
Trades/Guilds
What were 3 trades/guilds that medieval people held- describe the job they performed
Black Death
What was the black death and how did it affect medieval society/people?