Knights and Castles in the Middle Ages – Einblicke in die Kultur des

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Life and Government in the Middle Ages 3 Knights and Castles (Klasse 7)
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Knights and Castles in the Middle Ages – Einblicke in die Kultur
des Rittertums gewinnen. (Klasse 7)
Zeichnung: Oliver Wetterauer
Astrid Berkefeld, Hamburg
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Wer kennt sie nicht, den wohltätigen Sir Robin
of Locksley, den unerschrockenen Sir Lancelot
oder den loyalen Sir Ivanhoe? Ritter und ihre
Abenteuer üben seit jeher eine große Faszination auf uns aus. Aber wer hatte schon einmal
die Gelegenheit, das Leben auf einer Burg
hautnah mitzuerleben?
Klassenstufe: 7
Dauer: 4 Stunden
Bereich: Mittelalterliche Gesellschaft,
Rittertum
Der vorliegende Beitrag führt Ihre Schülerinnen und Schüler nicht nur informativ und
altersgerecht in die Welt der Ritter und Burgen
ein, sondern bietet darüber hinaus auch
zahlreiche Möglichkeiten zum handlungsorientierten Arbeiten.
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Materialübersicht
1. Stunde:
Castles in the Middle Ages
M1
(Gd)
The medieval society – a tripartite society
M2
(Bi)
Knights in films
M3
(Ab/Tx)
Castles in the Middle Ages
M4
(Bi)
A castle plan
2. Stunde:
Castle life
M5
(Ab/Tx)
Inside a castle
M6
(Tx)
The castle kitchen
M7
(Tx)
The Great Hall
M8
(Tx)
The castle chapel
3. Stunde:
Becoming a knight
M9
(Ab/Bi)
Castle residents
M 10
(Ab/Tx)
Steps to knighthood
4. Stunde:
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Tournaments
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M 11
(Ab)
An internet research on medieval tournaments
Ab: Arbeitsblatt – Bi: Bild – Gd: grafische Darstellung – Tx:Text
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Knights and Castles (Klasse 7) Life and Government in the Middle Ages 3
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The medieval society – a tripartite society1
M1
The Middle Ages covered a long period of time – from about 500 to 1500. In the following
lessons we are going to concentrate on the 11th and 12th centuries when knights played an
important role in the medieval society.
God
Clergy
(bishops, priests)
prayed, held mass2,
christened, married and
buried people,
held confession3
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Nobility
(emperors, kings)
reigned4
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Knights
defended themselves
and the other estates5
Peasants6, Menials7 worked for the other estates, were dependent8
Annotations
1 tripartite society: Dreiständegesellschaft – 2 mass: Gottesdienst – 3 confession: Beichte – 4 to reign: regieren –
5 estates: Stände – 6 peasant: Bauer – 7 menial: Knecht – 8 to be dependent: unfrei sein, abhängig sein
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Columbia Tri Star/Album/AKG
Knights in films
Warner Brothers/Album/AKG
M2
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M.G.M/Album/AKG
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Tasks
1. Have a look at the pictures. What do they all have in common?
2. Name famous knights or characters of the Middle Ages.
3. Do you recognise any of the people in the pictures? Which famous knights or characters do
they represent?
4. Why do you think that nowadays in the 20th and 21st centuries there are so many films about
the Middle Ages and especially knights?
5. What makes medieval knights so fascinating for you personally?
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A castle plan
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M4
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Life and Government in the Middle Ages 3 Knights and Castles (Klasse 7)
This is what a castle looked like in the Middle Ages. Label the different parts of the castle in the picture. If you need help, look at the text “Castles
in the Middle Ages” again.
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Knights and Castles (Klasse 7) Life and Government in the Middle Ages 3
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The Great Hall
A medieval castle had to have a Great Hall1. Read the text to find out why this room was so
special.
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The Great Hall was the most magnificent2 room of the castle. Feasts, banquets, wedding celebrations,
receiving visiting nobles and holiday festivities would all be celebrated in the Great Hall. Expensive
tapestries and silks3 lined the walls and while medieval castles were rather dark, the largest windows
could be found in the Great Hall. Small wooden or stone benches were placed underneath these
windows so that the guests could enjoy the view.
Light for evening feasts and celebrations was provided by candles and oil lamps. Great Hall furnishings4
could be sparse5 but also very practical as large wooden tables and benches could easily be taken away to
make room for dancing and entertainment. The castle lord6 and his family were seated on a raised table
(high table) at the far end of the hall.
A cupbearer7 made sure that the glasses were always filled with wine. Food was served on plates or
trenchers8 – slices of stale bread which soaked up the grease9 from the food. Guests with good manners
would share cups of wine and offer food from their own plates to a neighbour. People ate with their
fingers or with knives and spoons. Forks were not used until the end of the Middle Ages.
Text: Astrid Berkefeld
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Annotations
1 Great Hall: Rittersaal – 2 magnificent: prunkvoll – 3 silks: eine Wandbespannung aus Seide – 4 furnishing: Einrichtung – 5 sparse: spärlich – 6 castle lord: Burgherr – 7 cupbearer: Mundschenk, Diener – 8 trencher: ein altes
Stück Brot, aus dem ein Teller oder Gefäß geformt wurde – 9 grease: Fett
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Tasks
1. You will be asked to present your room to a different group. Read the text silently and underline any information that is important for describing the room.
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2. Take down some notes for the presentation.
3. Compare and discuss your notes with the other group members.
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The castle chapel
In medieval times people were very religious. Read the text to find out more about the importance of a chapel1.
Most castles had a small chapel in which mass2 was held every morning for the castle lord3 and his family. Services for the rest of the castle residents were held in chapels in nearby villages or towns.
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The chapel would typically be close to the Great Hall4 or the castle lord and lady’s chambers5. Painted
walls, stained-glass6 windows and a golden cross on the altar made the chapel the most beautiful room in
the castle.
Religious ceremonies (also weddings) were performed by the castle chaplain7. Chaplains were one of
the few people in the castle who could read and write. They were therefore also in charge of the castle
documents.
Text: Astrid Berkefeld
Annotations
1 chapel: Kapelle – 2 mass: Messe, Gottesdienst – 3 castle lord: Burgherr – 4 Great Hall: Rittersaal – 5 chambers:
Privatgemächer – 6 stained-glass: Buntglas – 7 chaplain: Kaplan
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Tasks
1. You will be asked to present your room to a different group. Read the text silently and underline any information that is important for describing the room.
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2. Take down some notes for the presentation.
3. Compare and discuss your notes with the other group members.
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Castle residents
Have a look at the people who all live and work in medieval castles. First name the people then
match the definitions to the pictures. Whose life do you think is most interesting? Explain.
knight
–
cook
–
castle
lady
–
squire
–
chaplain
–
watchman
Cared for
the children and
looked after
the castle when
her husband
was away.
Held mass
in the
castle chapel.
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Roasted, broiled
and cooked food
in the fireplaces
and ovens.
A young man.
He took care
of the knight’s
weapons, horse
and armour.
An official
at the castle
responsible
for security.
A professional
soldier, usually
on horseback.
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An internet research on medieval tournaments
Here is a picture of Sir Henry and Sir Arthur. They are talking about
their sons, who do not know anything about medieval tournaments.
Sir Henry:
Good day to you, Sir Arthur. I really do not know what they
are teaching the kids these days. My son is a page and
training to be a knight but when I was talking to him the
other day he really did not have a clue1 what jousting is, let
alone what the aim2 of jousting is. Isn’t that terrible?
Sir Arthur:
I know, it is unbelievable3. My son did not even know what the aims of a tournament are, in other words, why knights fight in tournaments. I almost fell off my
chair when I heard this. It is not surprising that he also had no idea what kind of
weapons4 are used in tournaments and why. Sir Henry, have we failed as parents?
Sir Henry:
We most certainly haven’t, Sir Arthur. We do our best to defend5 our country and
faith6, training our sons to become knights is somebody else’s job. That’s why we
sent them away at the age of seven. And don’t forget, you are not the only knight
whose son doesn’t know a thing about where the ladies sit at tournaments, what
happens to the winner or if tournaments are fought in teams or as individuals.
I really think we should have a serious word with our sons!
Sir Arthur:
Good idea! They have been too lazy. From now on they should work a lot harder.
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Annotations
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1 clue: Ahnung – 2 aim: Ziel – 3 unbelievable: unglaublich – 4 weapon: Waffe – 5 to defend: verteidigen –
6 faith: Glaube
The knight’s sons have a lot to learn! Read the text again and underline what they did not know.
Then visit the following websites to find the answers. Write down everything you find out on
the lines below.
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http://tayci.tripod.com/joust.html
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/knights-tournaments.htm
http://www.ahrtp.com/MedievalWarfareOnLine/index_5.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medknight.html#tournaments
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