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!

Feudalism and the Medieval Era Fairy Tale Project

- fantasy- set in the past- contain good and evil characters- a plot that is a problem or a challenge that is also solved- has a happy ending- and shares information with the reader

Grading: You will be graded on the following for your project:

1) Individual daily participation 2) The research you conducted in order to understand

the key terms and ideas in this unit (how you filled out this packet)

3) Creativity. How effective were you in “showing me not telling me.” For example, how did you get the reader to know that a guild is a group of people who work in the same craft or trade, without telling them the definition.

4) Ability to educate the reader on the key terms and topics in the project. Your reader should understand how the feudal system worked and affected the every day lives of medieval citizens and should understand the roles of the characters you created.

GRADING RUBRIC

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:

peasants1) the dress of peasants2) the lifestyle of peasants3) their role and treatment in society4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced5) their education6) their living conditions, where they lived7) health

nobility1) the dress of the noble you choose to highlight2) the lifestyle of nobels3) their role and treatment in society, their importance4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced5) their education6) overall understanding of what a vassal was and their job 7) living conditions, where they lived,

clergy1) about them being exempt from taxes2) their lifestyle/role and position in society3) overall understanding of what a monk was and their job4) overall understanding of what a friar was5) living conditions, where they lived

EXTRA INFORMATION:1) the atmosphere of a castle2) what daily life was like in a castle (routine)3) mention of the “ladies” of the castle and their job4) mention some of the workers of the castle5) how the castle protected itself6) the atmosphere of a peasant home7) 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 was9) mention black death and what the disease was and how it affected people10) feudalism- how did it rule medieval life?

Some good websitesDaily 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.htmhttp://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.htmlhttp://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- pg14http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf

Military- pg 15http://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.htmlhttp://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?

EntertainersWhat were 3 jobs of entertainers- describe the entertainment they performed

Trades/GuildsWhat were 3 trades/guilds that medieval people held- describe the job they

performed

Black DeathWhat was the black death and how did it affect medieval society/people?