Good morning, we’re going to look at Europe in the Middle Ages. The first episode covers knights and tournaments. The run time for this episode is 52:30.
The Middle Ages were often considered a dark and dreary time. Four estates lived during this time: knights, monks, peasants, and beggars. This series follows the lives of people from each level of society. You will see the Middle Ages through their eyes. What was the reality of that? However, it is a time when the modern age was born. So what can we discover about the Middle Ages through these groups? Was the Middle Ages all that dark? The first episode of this series covers the night. One knight on horseback was worth eighty men on foot. They were the military elite and inspired ideas of chivalry, manners, and courtesy. They were well-armed and went to war as vassals of their lords. They risked their lives in tournaments to gain honor. This episode explores the life of a knight. He is a man who has no land or serfs. His father’s lands will pass to his older brother. The knight has to find his way. He leaves his family in Portugal and goes north. He is joining up with the Teutonic Knights to fight against the remaining heathens in Europe. In 1335, you were never far away from the castle. It was the symbol of Medieval Power. A knight could be assured of hospitality and shelter. This is when the documentary talks about the Guedelon Castle. This is a historical rebuild of a castle. The plan is to build a castle using 14th Century Techniques. The foundation stone was established in 1997. Over 50 craftsmen have been working on the castle. Florian Renucci is overseeing the construction and he speaks about the progress of the castle for this documentary. The workers on the castle had to learn and rediscover historical methods. There is a good discussion on the tools that were used, what materials were used, and the techniques that were rediscovered. There was a discussion as to the workers developing the five-day work week. (To learn more about this historical experiment watch Secrets of the Castle! By 2023 the Castle should be finished.) The knight continues to travel with his page. The page aspires to be a knight and the knight demonstrates what could happen if the page did not keep up with his watch or his training. They continue to travel the countryside, experiencing castle after castle. The Castle was the greatest status symbol a knight could possess. Archeologist Mathew Johnson has examined many castles and could give a picture of their military value. Johnson examines Bergen Castle and points out that it was not built for military purposes. The knight then enters his first tournament in Flanders. He was thrilled with entering the tournament. Every novice had to enter as many tournaments as he could to raise his status among his peers. John the King of Bohemia was hosting the tournament. He had to declare his colors and show that he had the required noble ancestors. The melee was the first tournament event. Knights were not supposed to be killed in the melee, instead, the knights were to be taken prisoner; it was used as a practice for war. Will our knight get past this first test? Tournament books describe the events and the rules of the tournament. The knights also competed for the praise of beautiful ladies. The ladies gave out the prizes. The knight in the story participates in the joust. He challenged the King of Bohemia. In this section, there is a discussion of the risks that the knight would have faced in the joust. The test involves a crash test dummy fighting with a lance under tournament conditions. Will the knight be victorious? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more. This documentary reminds me of the Storm Over Europe series I had done earlier in the year. In that series, we followed the story of an individual from a tribe who watched the fall of Rome. That was an excellent series, and this series is starting off strong as well. I would use this episode in a middle school history class.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |