Medieval Living

Anyone who has surfed the vastness of the world wide web has had the experience of looking for one thing but finding another. Well I have been working on a reading list of Medieval fiction for homeschoolers, with an emphasis on material appropriate for elementary school ages. In the midst of it all, I stumbled upon Susan Higginbotham’s blog, aptly titled “Medieval Woman . . .” For anyone who doesn’t know, Ms. Higginbotham is an award winning author of Medieval historical fiction, with such stories as The Traitor’s Wife, Hugh and Bess, and The Stolen Crown among her titles.

I enjoyed her blog immensly, as it contains some wonderful references to 14th and 15th century English history . . . which is the same period we aim to use as the reference for the development of our living history museum. I enjoyed her recent post about a book found at the flea market . . . History of England in Words of One Syllable . Will have to look for that one.

Well, back to work – although Ms. Higginbotham’s works are wonderful reads, I don’t think I will add them to my reading list for eight year olds. If you know of a good Medieval fiction title for elementary aged kiddos, please drop me a line! Perhaps it will be the one I missed while busying myself with some other person’s blog!

Oh . . . her blog roll looks fascinating! I will surely be checking out her list of blogs, many which I have not heard of before.
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In case you missed yesterday’s post, Medieval Living is sponsoring a writing contest for New Mexico homeschoolers in the high school-age group. There are several reasons that we’re offering this contest. First, the most obvious, is that we are trying to promote the study of life in the Medieval era. We have held several classes now (with several more planned in the upcoming months) that teach some hands-on lessons about Medieval history; however, we also want to address the more scholarly aspects of studying the subject. Secondly, the majority of the students we have seen so far are in the elementary and middle school ages, with only a few high school-age students attending. We want to make sure we are addressing the needs and interests of everyone. Therefore, we are offering this writing contest to provide an outlet for the older, academically motivated homeschool students.

The third reason is closely connected to the second . . . we are interested in the writing abilities of our high school-aged students, especially those who are considering attending college. The essay serves two purposes aside from the actual competition: to offer an opportunity for students to produce an academically oriented research paper, and to allow students and parents alike a chance to evaluate the student’s writing abilities and preparedness for college.

In addition to the contest evaluation, we would also like to offer a critique of each student’s writing if agreed to by the student and parent. This also serves several functions: to provide an evaluation from an outside observer, and to provide us (Medieval Living) with a glimpse of the ability levels of our students. In turn, this will help us develop literacy strategies for all homeschool children. Although we enjoy the hands-on activities, we also want to help students develop their academic skill sets.

So . . . we look forward to reading your essays!!! If you have any questions, please contact scott@medieval-living.com. Oh, and we hope to offer more essay competitions throughout the year, involving the early age groups as well.

Medieval Living is sponsoring an essay writing contest, open to any registered New Mexico homeschool student in grades 9 through 12. The award for the winning entry is a hard cover copy of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer.

The essay must answer the following question:

“What conditions and developments influenced the European response
to population increases during the High Middle Ages (1000 to 1300)?”

Rules:

1. The contest is open to any registered New Mexico homeschool student in grades 9 through 12. The winning contestant must be able to prove current homeschool registration upon request.

2. The essay must have three parts: A) title page, B) essay pages, and C) bibliography (works cited). The title page and bibliography must be on separate pages. The essay pages and bibliography must not contain any references to the contestant’s name or information.

3. The title page must include the title of the essay, contestant’s name, address, telephone number, and email address (if available).

4. The essay must have a minimum of 800 words and not exceed 1,200 words (excluding title page, footnotes, and bibliography page). (Word counts based on a word processor are acceptable). The first page of the essay must include the title of the essay. The essay must be typed double-spaced on white bond paper. No bindings or special covers are needed. Graphics are not permitted. An original copy of the essay must be submitted.

5. Plagiarism will be grounds for immediate disqualification.

6. The essay and bibliography must be documented in accordance with the Modern Language Association publication, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (see www.mla.org).

7. Essays which meet the criteria in Rules 2 through 6 above will be accepted and judged equally on the following criteria:

A. Historical accuracy
B. Clarity of thought
C. Organization
D. Grammar and spelling
E. Documentation of sources

8. Essays must be received no later than June 4, 2010. Email time stamps or post office post marks are evidence of timely submissions.

9. The award for the winning entry is a hard cover copy of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer.

10. The winning essay will be published on the Medieval Living website. A parent/guardian will be asked to sign a release form before the essay is published.

Email address: admin@medieval-living.com (Subject: Essay Contest)

Postal address: Medieval Living, Inc.
Essay Contes
1380 Rio Rancho Blvd, SE
Ste 335
Rio Rancho, NM 87124

Just a quick announcement . . . I’ve scheduled a Nine Men Morris class for June 8 at the Cherry Hills Library. I also plan on offering a class or two at the Los Lunas Public Library as soon as I confirm the date. Nine Men Morris is a simple enough game, yet it offers some challenging strategies for the advancing players – a friendly game for all ages and skill levels!

I am being optimistic by scheduling a Nine Men Morris tournament for June 24th, also at the Cherry Hills Library. I’ve had enough discussions with parents to believe that there would be a real interest in some healthy competition – and Nine Men Morris would be a good outlet. I also plan on adding a fund-raising element to the tournament, with each participant gather pledges for number of games completed during the tournament. I hope we can come up with some nice prizes for all who participate and for the Morris Champion!

I’ve also offered to teach the game to the children’s librarian for the library’s teen boardgame night. We will see how that develops . . . but I think its the least we can do considering how much we are using their facility for our classes. I might even show up for the gameboarding session to offer some instruction on how to play.

We had seven students at the second chainmail class . . . a quieter event, but still a little demanding for the younger ones. Still, we had fun and learned alot about chainmail making and about Medieval armor in general. But I think the pennywhistle and nine men morris events will probably be alot more fun!!!

We held our first chainmail class yesterday . . . we have a second one scheduled for this afternoon. How did yesterday’s class go? Well . . . one of the things I’ve learned as a teacher is that MY expectations for a class are often different then my students’ expectations. Learning to be flexible with the outcomes is important. Because of the age differences throughout the class – we had around 18 students, ranging in ages from 8 to 18 – we were presented with a lot of different skill levels. It was quickly apparent that many of them lacked either the experience of using simple hand tools or the dexterity to manipulate them. Like any of us, not having the skills to do something can lead to frustration and a loss of interest. Also, the class was much larger then I wanted . . . given the age spread and skill differences, 10 to 12 is about the limit – we had 18.

However . . . we had also brought with us a variety of armor pieces, including a chainmail coif and vest, a couple of leather breastplates (solid leather and lamellar) and “legs”, a plate helm, “arms”, and gorget, and a lorica segmentata breastplate. The students enjoyed trying on the armor (even when it weighed more then they did) and posing for pictures. The dress-up time served as an excellent opportunity to answer questions about the development of armor and its history. We also had some samples of the different chainmail patterns, which led to other discussions about the history of armor.

So . . . even though the class didn’t go quite as expected (from my point of view), I do think that the students and their parents had an enjoyable time and learned more then just how to weave a piece of chainmail. I do have some changes in mind for this afternoon’s class – things that will help to reduce the early onset of frustration and loss of attention. I’ll let you know how they go! I will also post some photos on the webpage by the weekend.

Thanks to the Cherry Hills Library for the use of their large meeting room . . . I hope we weren’t too disruptive to the rest of their activities.

In my last post I mentioned the work of Frances and Joseph Gies, who have written several books regarding life in Medieval times. I also found an online resource that might be of interest to homeschool families. Also in Cambridgeshire is the village of Grantchester. Professor Frans ven Liere of Calvin College of Grand Rapids Michigan, has taken Grantchester and used it as a backdrop for a quick study in the manorial system during the 12th and 13th centuries. While not very detailed, Grantchester Medieval Village does give an overview of the role of the manor, the church, and the fields as they pertain to life in the Medieval era.
There is also a link to the modern day Grantchester, which includes a digital version of the British A to Z road map – I had not seen this yet, so for me, its a great find.
Did you find this information useful? If so, perhaps you would consider making a $1 donation to support Medieval Living’s educational endeavors. Just click the PayPal link below. Thank you!!!

A few days ago, I was writing to a homeschool parent, and I mentioned that one of our future goals here at Medieval Living is to create a Medieval living village. While not set in stone, we are focusing on 13th and 14th centuruy England for our inspiration.
Now anyone who has spent a little time in England would know that there are any number of villages to use as a model. One village of particular note is Elton. Elton is in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, west of the A1 near Peterborough. Now I know a little about this village, as I lived not far from there while serving as a historian for the US Air Force at nearby RAF Mildenhall. Actually, I live on the east side of the A1 in Yaxley – another village with an ancient past. But Elton has a well documented and researched past, due to some excellent records from nearby Ramsey Abbey. Also, it has been the subject of much scholarly research by Frances and Joseph Gies, who wrote the book Life in a Medieval Village, which is an account of the village of Elton. (The authors have also written several other Medieval era texts, most recently Daily Life in Medieval Times.)
Elton has existed for nearly 1000 years, having undergone numerous changes over the years. As technology changed, so did the village. The Romans certainly left their mark on the area even before the village was settled, as the nearby A1 highway is founded on one of great Roman roads built during the Roman occupation somewhere around 300 to 400 AD. By the time of the 13th century, the manor had become central to village life. This was an era of population growth and prosperity (at least for the lord of the manor).
So will we model our village after Elton? It certainly would be a good starting place, considering the descriptive information available. But we still have a long way to go before we make an firm decisions . . . after all, we’re still going through the initial growing pains of chainmail weaving and pennywhistle classes.

Each fall here in Albuquerque, one of the local farms near the Rio Grande creates a maze in one of their corn fields. It’s always a popular attraction – people seem to enjoy being perplexed by the puzzle – kids scream and giggle, teens hold hands and try to find a “secluded” spot, parents search frantically for missing kids, and old folks either meander joyfully along the pathway or scoff at having agreed to participate in such foolishness! It’s a well known fact that mazes have been around for a few years . . . generation after generation have enjoyed solving them. I remember as a child, the story of the Minotaur living in the Cretan Labyrinth. The purpose of the labyrinth was to contain the Minotaur so that it would not pose any threat in the world. Later in the story, Theseus, the son of Poseidon, dispatches the Minotaur. But the use of the word “labyrinth” always puzzled me, as I thought it was somehow different then a “maze”.

I found an excellent site that deals with that very subject . . . entitled “Labyrinthos“, the site serves as a labyrinth and maze resource center . . . never knew there was such a thing! Anyway, it seems that the difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that, “to qualify as a maze, a design must have choices in the pathway,” while “labyrinths have one pathway that leads inexorably from the entrance to the goal, albeit often by the most complex and winding of routes.” So, now I know the difference.
I think making a maze or a labyrinth would be a fun summer project for the homeschool groups – maybe just use stones or some other “marker” to delineate the path. Maybe we could hold a competition between groups of students to see who can devise the most complicated maze. Then make the other teams walk through the maze to see who can solve them the fastest. Sounds fun!

Before things start to get busy, I thought it prudent to get a calendar program in place so that we don’t double book ourselves and so that others can see what is on the schedule. We’ve had Los Lunas come on board now, with two chainmail classes scheduled and a pennywhistle class tentatively scheduled. I also want to offer them an inkle loom class or two. As things gear up for the summer, I need to know who is doing what and when and where.

We might have found an excellent archery location – it’s in Los Lunas, which is a bit of a drive for Albuquerque folks, but I think the location is practical and affords appropriate levels of safety. And that’s where Melissa and James live, and archery will be one of their main events. More to follow on that.

I have been getting some “hits” on my blog from the East Mountains area – so I anticipate them coming on board as well. Now if I can only find a decent place in Rio Rancho to meet – been having alot of resistance, not because of what we do, but because the insurance policies for the facilities here do not cover groups like Medieval Living having meetings there. I’ve looked at places to rent on a full time basis . . . but we are not there yet financially . . . unless I win the lottery or we find a backer who shares our vision, renting a building will be further down the road. (This would be a good opportunity for someone with a philanthropic heart to come forward! No, seriously!)

We will be offering three classes on the pennywhistle – one on May 5 and one on May 26 meeting at the Cherry Hills Library, and one on June 2 (tentative), meeting at the Los Lunas Library. Students may attend one or all of these classes – the more practice we have, the better! These classes are in preparation for attending the Albuquerque Folk Festival on Saturday, June 19th. Mr. Andy Moss, a local musician and experienced pennywhistle instructor, will be presenting a beginner’s pennywhistle/ tin whistle workshop at 11:00 am, and I would really enjoy having a large representation from Medieval Living!!! But even if you can’t make it to the festival, I hope you can make it to the classes.

The only thing different with these classes is the requirement for students to have their own key-of-D pennywhistle. Students may purchase their own whistle from their own source, or I will order them in advance of the class (which will either require a pre-payment or a very sincere promise to pay for it at the time of the class). Locally, I know that Apple Mountain Music usually has a nice selection of pennywhistles at a reasonable price. They are also available online starting at around $6 or $7 plus the cost of shipping – the shipping cost for an individual pennywhistle is almost as much as the instrument itself, which is why I am offering to purchase several at once, thereby lowering the cost per item.

The whistle I would prefer to buy for the students is the Clark Sweetone Pennywhistle available in D only – this is the first conical bore pennywhistle to have been made with a plastic mouthpiece – the combination of traditional workmanship with modern technology. Cost per whistle would be $10.00 including shipping, and I can have them within a few days. However, if students want to purchase something different, that is fine with me – just as long as they are in the key of D.

Students interested in ordering a whistle in advance, please contact me at scott@medieval-living.com to make payment arrangements. I want to have the order placed no later then April 25th.

I will post this information on the local homeschool forums as well.

I also encourage parents to checkout the other activities available at the Albuquerque Folk Festival . . . lots of fun and educational activities.