Middle Ages
5 Twenty-Minute Programs
Grade Level: 8-10
Curriculum Area: Social Studies: World History
Programs examine English history in the 14th and 15th
centuries, focusing on different aspects of life in the Middle Ages showing everyday life
of peasants, traders, church officials, and townspeople and how their lives influenced
changes in political and social movements, architecture, religion, government and
commerce. Visits to castles, cathedrals, and battlegrounds, dramatizations of pilgrimages
and uprisings, and historical artifacts and architecture bring the Middle Ages to life.
Teacher Guide: 13 pages; includes objectives,
pre-viewing
and post-viewing activities, source materials, background information, and timeline.
Program Descriptions:
1. The Peasants' Revolt
(19:38)
Anger over a new tax in 1381 led to an uprising against King Richard II, which ended
with 1,500 rebels executed. This dramatization depicts the living and working conditions
of peasants in the 14th century and portrays Richard as a king who attempted to meet the
demands of the rebel leader, Watt Tyler. Viewers visit the battlegrounds and the hanging
tree where the outcome of the conflict becomes clear.
2. The Castle (20:58)
In the mid 14th century, Thomas Beauchamp, the 11th Earl of Warwick, began
reconstructing the family castle. While campaigning in France during the Hundred Years'
War, he had been so impressed by the magnificent castles of the French nobles that he
decided to use them as models for his own. This program discusses the tournament and
heraldry, recreates a joust, and visits the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of
Warwick. It also discusses the decline of the knight as a dominant force in the medieval
army.
3. The Church (20:44)
In 1420 three pilgrims meet on their way to the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham in
Norfolk, England. Each is making the pilgrimage for a different reason. Through their
conversations, we learn of the various attitudes toward the Catholic Church at a time
when, while most people still believed in its teachings, there was increasing skepticism
about the actions of its clergy. Between the characters' conversations, the narrator takes
us to a cathedral, a monastery, a tithe barn, and a medieval hospital.
4. The Town (20:59)
Using Lincoln, a town in north central England, as an example, this program explains
some of the many topographical and historical reasons for the growth of towns and their
function during the Middle Ages. It discusses the reasons that Romans first settled
Lincoln; the founding of the castle and cathedral by William the Conqueror, the structure
of the guild system, and the growth of the town as a trading center up to the early 15th
century.
5. The Traders (20:12)
The trade and industry of northwestern England in the Middle Ages was based on wool.
By the 12th century, raw English and Welsh wool was being widely exported, mostly to
Flanders, a cloth making center since Roman times. In this program we learn about the
techniques of sheep shearing and the methods illiterate shepherds used to keep a tally of
their herds; discuss various methods of transport; and examine the importance of Bruges as
a banking and trading center, particularly noted for the sale of cloth.
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