Medieval Living

We had a wonderful response to our chainmail classes . . . James handled two of them on his own in Los Lunas . . . he seemed to have held his own – no surprise there!
I held our first pennywhistle class. Although attendance was a little sparse (ok, there two), every one had fun and we received some very nice comments. The Los Lunas group has given an indication that they will have 11 at least for our class there on June 2. I will schedule another class if there is interest.
Nine Men Morris is on the schedule . . . two classes in Albuquerque and two in Los Lunas. Again, we will schedule more if there is interest. There was an expressed interest in some chess playing . . . both James and I are avid players, so we are definitely up for that!

Working on some “wasters” so that we can get a little sword play going during the summer – I will keep you posted on how those are coming.
Sure could use a little financial help for the archery program . . . that’s more expense then we have resources for at the moment.
We want to revisit the inkle loom classes also . . . that was fun, but the folks in Los Lunas didn’t get the chance to participate yet.
I can think of a dozen other activities that I’d like us to get going if we can find a semi-permanent facility – almost need one in Albuquerque and one in Los Lunas . . . not sure how we will handle that yet.

Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows that I don’t usually comment on news events and personal opinion topics (unless related to education). Here is one that came to my attention . . . I think it appropriate that I share it with you:

Courage

-You’re a 19 year old kid.
- You’re critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .
- It’s November 11, 1967.
- LZ (landing zone) X-ray.
-Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
-You’re lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you’re not getting out.
-Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you’ll never see them again.
-As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
-Then – over the machine gun noise – you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
-You look up to see a Huey coming in. But … It doesn’t seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.
-Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.
-He’s not MedEvac so it’s not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he’s flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
-Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He’s coming anyway.
-And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.
-Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.
-And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!
Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.
-He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho . . .
I bet you didn’t hear about this hero’s passing, but we’ve sure seen a whole bunch about Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods.

Just a reminder – the pennywhistle classes are coming up soon. I don’t have a very accurate headcount, so if you are intending on coming to the May 5 class, please contact me. Apple Mountain Music here in Albuquerque gave us a discounted price on some nice pennywhistles for the class . . . so if you happen to stop by their store sometime, please tell them “Thank you”!

Someone was looking for a pattern to make a leather gorget for fencing/rapier . . . here is the link! I have made this gorget myself using this pattern, and it works very nicely! Here is a different gorget pattern (which I have not tried) that looks like it would be a nice project to work on.

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.

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.

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.