What was life like in Medieval England?

Learning outcomes for the Extended Homework Project

This half term you will look into life in Medieval England.

Through a number of different tasks you will discover what life was like in Medieval England for different groups such as Knights or Peasant Children.

You will also have the opportunity to use your understanding to build your very own castle or siege weapon showing just what you have learnt about what makes a castle successful and strong.

Perseverance Making good use of resources

Planning learning in advance

What’s the link between these?

Answer

All these things have something to do with

PROTECTION!

Background - Norman conquest!

• King William I defeated the Saxons at the Battle of Hastings and spent the next 20 years

• During this time he built over 100 Motte and Bailey Castles.

• These were important bases to protect Norman troops and keep an eye on local unrest.

Although quick and simple to build, the Motte and Bailey castle also had weaknesses.

Because this type of castle was built from wood it could easily be set on fire and would rot over time.

Sooner or later an enemy would realize the weaknesses of these castles, so a more permanent solution was needed.

When William came over from Normandy he quickly began building Motte and Bailey castles.

The Normans quickly set about building castles made of stone. These type of castles were called Square Keep castles.

The Motte was too weak to hold the huge weight of the stone castles.

The end of the Motte and Bailey

Why do you think this spelt the end of Motte and Bailey castles?

Life in a stone keep castle was better than in a Motte and Bailey… but not by much!

Stone Keep castles were also extremely heavy. This meant that they couldn't be built on the old Motte and Bailey castle sites, because the man-made Motte would not support the weight of all the stone!

What was life like inside a Stone Keep castle?

There was more room inside, but it was still draughty and much of the castle was built around the idea of defence, not luxury. The walls were 4 metres thick in places.

Keep ~ Walls 2.5 m thick

Wall Towers ~ with splay bottoms

Curtain Wall

Gatehouse with a drawbridge at the front.

Arrow Slits

Hoarding with leather cover ~ used to protect the towers and walls when being attacked

Moat

Merlons – raised stonework

Bailey – A safe place to shelter during an attack

Crenels

Round Towers

A Medieval Castle

Religion• In Medieval England almost everyone believed

in God, and that heaven and hell were real places. If you tried to lead a good life on earth and went to church regularly, you would probably go to heaven when you died. However, if you committed crimes, didn’t pray much and were a bad person, you would face the horrors of hell.

• The biggest building in a town or village would be the church. The village priest was a very important man. He cared for people from the day they were born to the day they died. He was a friend, an adviser and a local leader. During confession the priest would listen while the villagers told him of the sinful things they had done.

• Church services were held in Latin, so ordinary people couldn’t understand them. There would be a good chance that the priest wouldn’t understand much of what he was saying either. He would probably just learn the services by heart. Latin was the language of the Church, but English was the language of the people.

“In hell the wicked are tortured on burning trees. They were hung by the feet, or hands, or hair, or neck, or tongue, or arm. There is a horrible river, full of fish-like monsters which gobble up the souls of the wicked, who get what they deserve.” – A Medieval priest describes hell.

Heraldry and Knighthood• William the Conqueror brought the first knights to England

in 1066 to fight King Harold. As a reward for fighting, William gave them land. In return, they promised to spend 40 days a year fighting for him. This was called paying homage. A knight’s training would start at 7 years of age. He would probably come from a rich, noble family. As a boy he would be sent to a knight’s home to serve him for about 5 years. The page, as the boy would be known, would clean dishes, serve meals and wash clothes. He might learn to read and write.

• At about 14 years old the page would become a squire. He would learn about chivalry, weapons, fighting, armour and horses. If the squire worked hard for 5 years, he would be ready to go through to his knighting ceremony. The squire would be ordered to spend a night in a church praying. In the morning a priest would bless a sword, and instruct the older knight to dub the young squire. The quire would kneel down before his master and allow the knight to touch (or dub) his shoulders with the sword. A knight was born.

Peasants and fun!In Medieval times ordinary people didn’t have holidays. Instead, there were a number of church festivals and feast days throughout the year. On these days after going to a church service, peasants would be free to enjoy themselves. Our word ‘holiday’ comes from the words ‘holy day’. Peasants had to make their own fun using whatever they had to hand. Some of the amusements were so popular that they are still used by us today.

There are some examples of fun and games on the next slide!

• Conkers – brought to England by the Normans• Football – no rules, referee, or limit on team sizes• Bowling – wooden balls were used to knock down skittles• Golf – clubs were simple and the ball was leather stuffed with hair• Coldhand – a blindfolded player had to guess who slapped him (sometimes called

‘blind man’s bluff’)• Shin hacking – two people kicked each other on the shins until one could not

take the pain and gave up• Cock fighting – two birds attacked each other, sometimes with metal tied to their

claws (people bet on the results)• Wrestling – all sorts of fighting games were popular• Bear baiting – a bear was chained to a post while dogs attacked it (people bet on

the result)• Stoolball – a lady sat on a stool and men threw a ball at her, she would try to

dodge or hit the ball• Archery – England always needed trained archers• Ice Skating – people strapped sharpened animal bones to their shoes

Task• Your extended homework task this half term is about a study into

life in Medieval England.• You are going to use the information provided and what you have

learnt with your history teacher to complete one of the following tasks below. You have a choice between:

• Pathway 1- Medieval Castles• Pathway 2- Religious Life• Pathway 3- Heraldry and Knighthood• Pathway 4- The Development of Castles• Pathway 5- Medieval Peasant Children• Pathway 6- Siege Weapons•  • It is up to you which pathway you choose to follow. You can choose

to complete more than one pathway if you wish, this will be taken into account when deciding your performance grade.

G&T Focus: Your task is to create an iformation folder on medieval life. This should include the following sections;Medieval Life, Peasant, Knighthood and Castles

What makes a strong castle?

What could you put into your design?