Medieval Living

Can’t believe I hadn’t stumbled upon this blog before . . . Will McLean is a long time Medievalist, interested in Medieval recreation for nearly 40 years. He was one of the contributors to the book, Daily Life in Chaucer’s England. His blog, A Commonplace Book, discusses a wide variety of Medieval history themes (as well as some not-so-Medieval ones).

While the Albuquerque area has a variety of chess clubs, there are very few opportunities to try some of the lesser know board games from the Medieval period. Beginning in late December or early January, we will begin offering Medieval Game Days . . . where anyone interested can learn to play such games as Nine Man Morris, King’s Table (Tafl), Alquerque, as well as Chess. Once we are through the holiday season, I will post more information on the dates and locations for Medieval Game Days. Anyone interested in reading the rules for these games, go to Modaru University

Game days are open to all . . . however, if there is a large enough interest by home school groups, we will organize a seperate game day location.

One of those must-do activities with children is to make a coat of arms. Known as “heraldry”, the study of crests and emblems and the meaning behind the symbols can be fun and educational at the same time. Homeschoolers and public schoolers alike will enjoy researching and creating their own crest and blazon. The “language” of the heraldric symbols and their descriptions provides an opportunity to study Medieval English with Latin prefixes and suffixes. For example: “gules, on a bend between six crosses crosslet fitchée argent; an escutcheon charged or, a demi-lion rampant its mouth impaled with an arrow within a double tressure fleury counter fleury gules”.
With a little research, all of these mysterious sounding terms will make alot of sense. A very fun and user-friendly website is through Mr.Donn.org. This site includes instructions of how to design a coat of arms, shield shapes, symbol meanings, terminology, heraldric charges and more.
Students can also explore modern military history with this activity. Perhaps grandpa or “Uncle Gary” or whoever served in the miliary – look up their unit’s emblem and write a description using heraldric language!
Also check out this from MotherBedford! Very good discussions on heraldric language – better known as the “blazon”.

I don’t think that we are some crazy nuts who have a pie-in-the-sky dream of building a Medieval living-history village. Or if we are, I’d like to share with you that there are many many others who have similar goals and aspirations. One such group is Guedelon – a Medieval castle being constructed in Burgundy, France, using tools and techinques common to the Medieval era.
Another group is a little closer – Medieval World, USA, is a Colorado not for profit corporation with similar goals . . . to quote from their site “Medieval World, USA wants to build not only a castle, but an entire medieval village.”
So what does it take? What do we have to do to make this dream a reality? I would truly like to hear from anyone, whether in New Mexico or anywhere else, who would like to share in making this dream come true! It looks like it’s taken the group in Colorado since 2006 to get to the point where they finally have a piece of land for a permanent facility. What would it take to make that happen here during 2010? Either leave a comment here or email me at scott@medieval-living.com .

Another topic that may be interesting to homeschoolers is Medieval music. Sharon Spanogle of Medieval and Renaissance Music provides a nicely assembled collection of websites pertaining to music from the Medieval period. Included among the resources Sharon provides are categories like Texts, Scores, Audio Files, Music Theory in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Catalogs and Indices of Manuscripts, Bibliographies, Gregorian Chant, and Instruments and Instrumental Music.
Even if you are not musically inclined, there are resouces available. A blog by homeschool mom Sarah Pinnix gives ten ways to teach basic music skills to children . . . even if you are not a musician Sarah explains one of the successes she had with music in the homeschool setting. “I directed a homeschool recorder consort (group) once, who played authentic medieval music very well. We played music to underscore a play set in a castle, and the kids were really proud of themselves.” Does that give you any ideas? Hmmmm – I can think of a few!!! Photo borrowed from http://www.ancestral.co.uk/band.htm.

Continuing with the homeschool theme . . . here is a easy example of how studies of the Medieval era can be used to teach contemporary subjects: the physics of the trebuchet. On the Library ThinkQuest site is a very nicely written piece about the physics involved in the operation of a trebuchet. Included are mathematical formulae for velocity, acceleration of gravity, and velocity over time just to name a few. The study of a trebuchet also involves applications in engineering and design. The website www.slinging.org shows a basic diagram of a trebuchet. Building one from scratch might be a little beyond the skills of the average homeschool parent; however, there are numerous kits available. More indepth plans are also available, but so far I haven’t found any free plans which are of sufficient detail. If you know of a source, please let me know.