7E, A, R, S Homework Spring Term 1 Key Theme: Research

What have I got to do?

• You have got to research in detail ONE aspect of life in the Middle Ages. (See separate list of questions) This research will also help you with group work you will do later in the half term. Your topic is individual to the group that you have been put into, so make sure that you are researching the right thing!

• Everyone must:• Research at least 4 of the bullet points from your list.• Set your work out in sections based on the bullet

point list.• Some people will be able to:• Research all of the bullet points on the list• Find answers to their own questions on the topic• Find sources from the time to help them answer the

questions.

What is the teacher expecting to see?

• You can present your findings either typing them up or handwriting them.

• I am expecting you to spend ½ hour per week on this task so it should be clear that you have spent 3 hours on the task. If you spend more that is your choice, but you need to be organised enough that it does not affect other homework you have to complete for other subjects.

• I will be expecting it to be well presented (clear pictures, legible fonts and colours etc) and that you will have used spell check if you type it up.

• No cutting and pasting unless it is a source (therefore cannot be altered).

• Proof that you will have used 5 books (title and author please).• I will be checking every week that you have done something: bring

your research log.

• My advice is to check the library first: there are lots of books there about medieval life BUT you will have to search through them (use the index and contents pages to help). You are unlikely to find a book with the title of your topic, or a question from your list. You have to LOOK and THINK about whether this information is useful before you dismiss the book as useless.

Date What have I found out? Briefly summarise. Where did I get this from? Book title/website

‘Fun’• What did people do on Holy Days? How many were

there? Which Saints did they celebrate?• Were the rules for games such as football the same

as today? • What was bear baiting and cock-fighting? Why did

people like it?• What sort of books did people read? What sort of

stories did people like to hear?• What entertainments did the rich have compared to

the poor? • What were fairs? Who were travelling entertainers

and how did they entertain people?• Did people have much spare time as we do? How

did this affect the entertainments they had?

Homes

• How were homes in 1100 different to those in the 1400s?

• What were homes made from? How are they different to today?

• What types of buildings did the poor live in?• What types of buildings did the rich live in?• What furniture was found inside different homes?• What types of rooms were found in peoples’ homes?• Did homes have to fulfil lots of different purposes as

well as being somewhere to live? (clue: castles, stables, shops)

• Were homes in villages different to those in towns?• Do any Medieval homes still exist today? Why?

Farmers

• What was a typical year like for a farmer?

• What did they grow/raise?• What did the adults/children do?• What happened to their produce?• What tools did they have to help them?• Who owned the land?• Who were farmers?

Towns and travel

• What methods of transport were there? Who used them?

• Where did people go? How easy was it to get there?• Why would people travel? How often? Who travelled?• Why did people go to towns? What might you find in

a town?• How did towns change between 1100 and 1500?• What were guilds and who were in them?

Keeping clean and good manners

• What methods did people use to keep clean? Was it easy to keep clean? Did people wash their clothes? Why?

• Did people have manners and care about being rude? What was chivalry?

• Where did the rubbish/sewage go in towns? Where did people go to the toilet? Where did people get their water from?

• Were town streets clean? Why?• Were rich people cleaner than the poor? Why?

Helping the sick

• What type of remedies/medicines were available? Who made them? What from?

• What were physicians? How were they trained? What treatments did they give? Did any of them work? Why?

• Who were barber-surgeons? Why would you visit them? Who would visit them? What would they do? Were they successful? Why?

• What did Medieval people think made them ill? Why did they think this?

• Were Medieval people healthy? How long did they live? Did they have a healthy diet?

Punishments

• Who kept law and order? What was ‘hue and cry’? Did it work?

• What was a trial by ordeal?• When and why were trial by judge and jury

brought in?• What punishments were given? What were

the typical crimes? • Did people go to prison?• Why were the punishments different to

today?

Religion

• What religion were most people in England? Why was religion important to people?

• What role did the church play in an ordinary person’s life?

• What did Medieval churches look like? Were they all the same?

• What did a priest do?• What were monks and nuns? What did they

do? How did they help the community?• Where did pilgrims go in England? What did

they see there? Why did they go?