Day 26: District 2--Medieval Europe Begins! (10/9/12)

7.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval Europe.

SS Objective: HHG Tributes of 2018 will be able to categorize key events, institutions and social groups of the Medieval Era.

DL Objectives: HHG Tributes will be able to make a copy of a google document, read and highlight it according to a key. HHG Tributes of 2018 will be able to copy and paste the URL of their completed work into the Homework Form.

Step 1: Do now:
It is time to leave behind the togas, the civil wars, and the power struggles of the emperors. We must head north and leap across time to the Middle Ages—a time sandwiched between the ancient Greeks and Romans and our modern age.


Chateau de Caen

Look around closely. The landscape is dotted with castles, huge churches called cathedrals, small villages, and vast expanses of farmland cut neatly into strips. These are the manors on which medieval Europeans live. Some live better than the peasants, those who work endlessly as they scratch a living from their lord’s fief, or land.


Chateau de Crevecoer

Imagine it is spring. Your eyes catch a colorful tournament field. Here, armored knights ride toward each other, lance in hand, sharply focused knocking the other from his horse. Suddenly, cheers and groans pour from crowds and the lord’s box. However, many knights who usually practice their warrior skills in these jousts are not present today. They are off on a crusade riding sturdy war horses across Europe to the Holy Land, often fighting with the emblem of the cross etched into their armor. The religious faith that inspired these knights plays an important role in the Middle Ages.


Caen, France

The Catholic church has its own army of priests, nuns, and monks who tend to the spiritual and physical needs of medieval people. Some monks live in monasteries separated from the rest of the world, rarely speak, renounce worldly possessions, and sit at desks illustrating passages from the Bible. Their finished work is magnificent and beautiful.


Mont Saint-Michel, France

In this different world, the Christian religion dominates and greatly influences all who live in Western Europe between 600 and 1300. It is ... the Middle Ages. Read this overview of what we will be learning in District 2 of our History Hunger Games.

Step 2: We will watch this video together. It starts just after the fall of Rome and sets us up for a lot of the themes we will talk about for the Dark Ages, or Medieval times.



Step 3: Introductory Reading (30 min). Make a copy of this Background Reading | The Medieval Times. You will read and answer these questions with your partner. As you read, take note of examples of the different elements of civilization. You should highlight the different elements in different colors.

Geography

Religion

Achievements

Politics/Government

Economics

Society/Social Class/Social Structure

This will make your homework much easier!

Homework: 

Illinois-- Your homework is to finish reading the Background Reading | The Medieval Times and answer these questions/complete the GRAPES chart (Your highlights will help you with the GRAPES chart)

UCDavis & UPenn-- Your homework is to finish reading the Background Reading | The Medieval Times and complete the GRAPES chart (Your highlights will help you with the GRAPES chart)

ALL CLASSES: Make sure you have put it in your History folder, then, submit the links to your completed assignment here.