Part 1:

In 1990 I was doing some research for a National Curriculum book on the Middle Ages. I came across the name of Elizabeth de Clare. I discovered that this woman gave a great deal of money to the poor during her lifetime. She also established Clare College, Cambridge in 1336.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDclareEliz.htm

I was interested in two main questions: (1) Where did she get her money from? (2) Why was she so generous with her money?

I discovered that for over 300 years the Clare family had been one of the richest families in the UK. In fact, the money had dated back to the Norman invasion of 1066. Richard Fitz Gilbert, the half brother of William the Conqueror, was granted the title of the Earl of Clare. Elizabeth’s brother, Gilbert, the 10th Earl of Clare, had been killed at Bannockburn in 1314. In fact, Edward II had ordered Gilbert on a suicidal mission and was probably a strategy to deal with the troublesome Clare family. He had no children and so the money was divided between his three sisters. All three sisters were forced to marry knights loyal to Edward II. However, after Elizabeth’s husband died in 1322, she paid a substantial sum to the king in order that she could remain a widow. Elizabeth, then decided to give most of this money away to the poor.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORgilbertten.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORclaresisters.htm

I became fascinated by this story and decided to take time off from writing books for GCSE and the National Curriculum and do an in-depth study of this family. It took me two years to fully research the story. I then decided to take another gamble and to turn it into a simulation that would last for several months.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Yalding.htm

This simulation is based on just one village controlled by the Clare family. During my research I discovered that one village in particular, Yalding in Kent, had a wealth of primary sources. I therefore believed it was possible to construct a realistic simulation based on the sources available.

During the first part of the project the students study the period 1066 to 1335 via the Clare family. This involves the role the family played in the Norman invasion, the building of castles and monasteries, the feudal system, medieval knights, the deaths of William Refus and Thomas Becket, the Magna Carta, the conquering of Wales and Ireland, and the origins of parliament.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDnormanRS.htm

Part 2:

The simulation begins in 1335. The Lord of the Manor is Hugh de Audley. He is married to Margaret, the sister of Simon, the 10th Earl of Clare. He lives in Tonbridge Castle and the village is run by the steward John Gifford, who lives in the Manor House.

The map shows how Yalding looked in 1335. The two rivers (Beult and Medway), the bridge and the church (built in the 12th century) are still in the same positions. The manor house has been pulled down. The current building (17th century) is called Court Lodge.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmap.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmap2.htm

The common land is still there and is still used for the yearly fairs in Yalding (a tradition that dates back to 1338). The common land was always used because it was constantly under water and therefore not fit for growing crops). The River Belt: Old English: the Swollen One. Medway “mead water”.

This constantly flooding caused the Jutes and Saxons to abandon the site. However, another group of Saxons established a village here in 873. The main reason was the two rivers provided a good transport system to Chatham, Tonbridge and Maidstone.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDkent14th.htm

The Yalding marshland has been a common problem over the centuries. In the middle ages malaria was a common problem in Yalding. One epidemic killed over 50% of the village.

The idea is that every student in the classroom is given a card that gives them information on their character. Each student is the head of one of the families living in the village. There are 18 male and 18 female heads. In reality, only 15% of land holdings in the 14th century were in the hands of women.

The first part of the simulation involves the students using the Manor Records to do research into their family. They will discover details of their family (past and present), land, equipment and animals owned, status (serf or free), official posts in the village, savings, criminal record, etc.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YaldingManorR.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDinfomation.htm

In most cases, the children will carry out the same activities. However, some will be asked to do difficult tasks. For example, some will be witnesses in a court case. This will involve the student in taking part in a difficult role play. Therefore, these roles are given to those best fitted for the role.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDdifferentiation.htm

The strategy is to pair up pupils of different abilities. The idea is that one will help the other. Two pairs make up a tithing group. The head of the tithing group should have good organisational skills.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDtithing.htm

People in the 14th century farmed the land in tithing groups. This was forced on them because of the shortage of ploughs and work animals. Some of the early simulations involve this process that involved a great deal of team work.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDtithingG.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDfoodproduction.htm

Part 3

The fist simulation that I want to try out on you is the Manor Court. Records show that on average every adult appeared in the manor records for breaking local by-laws once every two years. Most common reasons were baking and brewing offences. However, serious crimes were not uncommon. The murder-rate (per 1,000 population) was much higher in the middle ages than it is today.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmanorcourt.htm

Simulation 1:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmanorcourt1.htm

Aymer Walter is accused of killing one of Hugh de Audley's stags. He is also accused of carrying a bow and arrow in the forest. If Aymer Walter is found guilty of killing the stag he will have his thumb and first two fingers on the right hand amputated. If he is found guilty of carrying his bow in the woods he will be fined two pence.

I should say something first about the way the Manor Court worked. Meetings of the court were held on a regular basis, usually, at least once a month. It was held in one of 3 places: the village church, the manor house or the oldest tree in the village.

In Yalding it was held in the Manor House (that is why it is now called Court Lodge). The jury was made up of villagers. The numbers ranged from 12 to 30. The judge would be the Estate Bailiff. If he could not make it the Beadle would be in charge (officer responsible for maintaining law and order in the village).

The jury’s decision had to be unanimous. The minority would be expected to change their minds in order to agree with the majority. If they failed to do this, they would be fined by the court.

Witnesses are called in the following order:

John Nash,
Gilbert Payne
Henry Rolfe
Thomas Brooker
Aymer Walter
Joanna Cheeseman,
Margaret Mannering.

The rest of the class play the jury.

Simulation 2

One of the simulations involve four members of the village joining the king’s army and fighting in France.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALD100years.htm

In June, 1348, the men return to Yalding. One of the men has an interesting story to tell:

On the way home from France we passed through a place called Bazas. While we were there a man became ill. He was a sailor who had just come back from a trip to Sicily. He had been feeling ill for a couple of days before we arrived. He complained of giddiness, shivering, vomiting and pains all over his body. Then lumps appeared under his arm. Red things they were. Well, they were red at first, then they got bigger and darker. He also had a lot of small spots all over his body. The thing I remember most of all was the terrible smell. It seemed that he was rotting to death. Before he died, people all over Bazas began complaining of feeling ill. Our commander decided to get out of the town as soon as possible. After leaving Bazas we went to Blaye. No one here had the disease but sailors from Blaye told stories of how villages all over Europe had been destroyed by the disease they called the pestilence.

Soon afterwards, Thomas Wood, a mason, arrives back in the village from Tonbridge.

I was in Tonbridge yesterday when all of a sudden, the town was swamped with visitors. Most of them had come from London. Others had come from villages south of the city. The people said they were fleeing from the pestilence. One man told me that the streets of London are full of dead bodies. Many people had stories to tell of the disease. One young woman told me that that she was the only one from a family of eight who had survived. Another man, a pedlar, told me that the disease was all over England. He said that it had spread through the West Country, then London, and was now heading for Kent and Sussex. When I heard that I decided to get on my horse and head back to Yalding as fast as I could.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDpestilenceC.htm


The students are then handed out “pestilence (Stage 1).

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDpestilence1.htm

The students meet in Tithing Groups and have to select 3 items on the list. This is then debated in the whole group.

The teacher announces that on 23rd June, 1349, that Katerina Dunn (the daughter of Benedict Dunn) has a high temperature, is shivering and has pains all over her body. She then develops swellings under her armpits. The pestilence has arrived in Yalding. How do you react.

Two issues: (a) how to treat the victims of the pestilence; ( how to stop it spreading in the village.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDpestilence2.htm

The teacher reads out the names of the people who caught the pestilence. After the death of Agnes Minchin you tell the class that it appears that the outbreak of the bubonic plague in Yalding appears to be over. You remind them how the pestilence died out at this time last winter.

The reason for this can be understood by an explanation of how people caught the bubonic plague. The pestis bacterium establishes itself in the flea's stomach where it multiplies rapidly until the organ is completely filled. The flea's stomach eventually becomes blocked. The infected fleas now becomes ravenously hungry because no blood can enter its stomach. To obtain more food it has to regurgitate some of the blood in its stomach. The plague bacilli now enters the rat. The rat will eventually die of the plague. When this happens the flea has to find a new host. It will try to find a rat but if none are available it will find another animal. Failing that, it will bite the nearest human being. In virtually every case the cause of infection is from animal to man. It is fairly rare for bubonic plague to be spread from person to person.

The first symptoms include a high temperature, tiredness, shivering and pains over the body. The next day sees the appearance of the bubo (a hard, painful, haemorrhagic swelling of a lymphatic gland). There are lymph glands in the groin, neck and armpit. The precise site of the bubo is determined by the location of the flea-bite. The pain from the growing bubo gradually increases and the person normally dies in great agony on the fourth or fifth day.

If the person is still alive by the seventh day the bubo will burst, expelling a foul-smelling, blackish liquid. The ragged ulcer takes a long time to heal. However, the patient will gradually get better.

At the beginning of the outbreak of the bubonic plague the death-rate is about 90%. This falls to about 30% as the epidemic subsided. Overall, the death-rate is about 70%. The arrival of the colder weather causes the fleas to hibernate. The bubonic plague will now come to an end.

However, in the winter of 1349, the bubonic plague developed into pneumonic plague. This is when the pestis bacterium becomes localised in a person's lungs. The victim of pneumonic plague will begin to cough up blood. The plague will now spread directly from human to human by 'droplet' infection. This is the deadliest bacterial disease known to humankind and virtually everyone who catches the disease will be dead in four days.

You then inform the class that on 17th October, Luke Clarke is taken ill. He has difficulty breathing and begin to cough up blood. Luke dies the following day. The same day Geoffrey Golding develops the same symptoms. He dies soon after. The bubonic plague has turned into the pneumonic plague.

For the sake of the simulation, all members of the class survive. However, their families have been devastated. Approximately, a quarter of the village has died. The next simulation concerns a look at 1350 in Yalding. There is now a shortage of labour and as a result the lord of the manor has to increase wage rates. There is also more land to rent. As a result, those who have survived, are better off. Over the next few years serfs earn enough to buy their freedom.

For example, by playing the simulation students discover that all survivors, whether free or serf, are better off as a result of the Black Death.

Henry Furner (cowman) income goes from 112 in 1339 to 190 in 1350.

Edeline Hale (brewer) income goes from 52 in 1339 to 94 in 1350.

Part 4:

The Lord of the Manors are not happy about this and persuade parliament to pass the Statute of Labours Act (fixing wage rates at 1346 levels). This was not very effective as many now moved to towns where wage rates were even higher than in the villages.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDstatute.htm

The students are then given the opportunity to flee to East Grinstead, a town in walking distance from Yalding.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDtowns.htm

In 1375 the students change character. Now they become the sons and daughters of their original characters.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDtithing1375.htm

The next group of simulations involve the Peasants Revolt. This includes the changes to the tax system that took place during the 14th century.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDtaxation.htm

They have to work out how much tax they have to pay in 1377. They also receive a visit from John Ball who explains how they are being exploited by the feudal system.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDballJ.htm

The students have to work out how much tax they have to pay in 1381.

Soon afterwards the village receive a coded message from John Ball calling on them to march on Maidstone (where he is being held prisoner).

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDballJ.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDrebellion.htm

The students then have to examine their own circumstances before joining the debate on this suggestion. Obviously, serfs find the idea more appealing than the free villagers. In fact, the debate usually starts off being 50-50. However, the debate usually convinces around 80% to go to Maidstone. After John Ball is freed the students get the opportunity to march on London. Most do.

They then go through the different stages of the revolt.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDchronology.htm

At each stage they get the opportunity to return to the village. Those that remain eventually get their Charter of Freedom from King Richard II.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDcharters.htm

In September, 1381, Yalding is visited by the king’s army. The students are asked to identify the leaders of the rebellion. This is in fact true and several members of the village were arrested and hung, drawn and quartered in January, 1382.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDpunishmentP.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDballJ2.htm

All told, nine men lost their lives for taking part in the rebellion in Yalding and neighbouring villages.

The final simulation involves explaining the subjective of history writing. All students are given Thomas de Edenbridge’s account of the history of Yalding. The students are then invited to write their history of Yalding.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALD1340-84.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDyaldinghistory.htm

Although I have only discussed a couple of simulations the project includes a whole range of active learning strategies. For a full list see:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDnormanRS.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmedievalRS.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YaldingProject.htm

All the activities are accompanied by teacher notes:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDnormanC.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDmedievalC.htm

Please email me if you want any extra help with this.

One of the simulations I used in the session concerned the fact that in an attempt to make the English the best longbowmen in the world, a law was passed ordering all men earning less that 100 pence a year to own a longbow. Every village had to arrange for a space to be set aside for men to practise using their longbows.

It was especially important for boys to take up archery at a young age. Local records suggested that this training became compulsory at around seven years of age. It was believed that to obtain the necessary rhythm of "laying the body into the bow" the body needed to be young and flexible. It was said that when a young man could hit a squirrel at 100 paces he was ready to join the king's army.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/YALDlongbow.htm

Yesterday I read an interesting article about the importance of longbow training. Chris Downes claimed that drawing the bowstring back to your cheek bone is equivalent to lifting a 100lb block of concrete with two fingers. He argues that to cultivate the special back and shoulder muscles needed it would have been necessary to medieval peasants to have trained from the “age of six or younger”. For example, the skeleton of an archer found in the wreck of the Mary Rose showed he had thicker bones in his right arm than his left and a deformed right shoulder from drawing the bow. Other evidence suggests that using such a high-tension weapon often left longbowmen with physical deformities.

Another expert, Andrew Clarke, has argued that this explains why the longbow stopped being used in warfare by the mid-16th century, despite the fact it had a range of more than 150 metres and a rate of fire of about 10 a minute. Raw recruits could be trained in the simple procedures needed to load, aim and fire an arquebus and could quickly become as adept at killing opponents as soldiers with many years experience.

I teach AP Government and World Studies on the high school level in NJ, I was a web programmer. I have an interest in teaching, history and the Kennedy Assassination. I have presented at numerous JFK assassination conventions, including the Wecht conference.

I've seen something you have proposed that resembles something I want to do with my classes. This will be my second year of teaching World Studies. We go from the Renaissance to WWI. In my U.S. I class last year, at the end of the year, I started to assign my class demographic profiles based on statistics on, for instance, the U.S. Civil War. I would proportionally divide the class up, for example, into North and South, age, occupation, etc. I want to expand this into a full-blown simulation similar to some of the ideas I've seen proposed on your forum. Namely, I want to do something like take demographic information on Germany during the early 16th century, and divide the class up proportionally. I would do the same thing for other events, like France during the French Revolution. I would then not only have the class draw general impressions on the populations of the time, but then develop a series of lessons that use role play based on those demographics. That being said, I need to know if and how and where I could find even semi-reliable statistical information covering a whole range of time periods, events, etc.

I have only just discovered this posting. I will reply in more detail later.