Year 7: the Middle Ages

'Use this interactive video to explore what life would have been like in the streets of Roman Canterbury. This resource provides detailed information about various aspects of society in Roman Canterbury.'

'Pilgrims have been visiting Canterbury Cathedral for centuries and this interactive resource will allow you to walk in the footsteps of pilgrims from the past.'

BBC Terry Jones' Medieval Lives Documentary: Episode 1 - The Peasant

Ruth Goodman, Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn see how medieval peasants lived: houses, cooking, clothes, grinding grain.'

'This resource explores the fascinating story of Thomas Becket, including his birth in London, rise to power within State and Church, his murder and sainthood, and his lasting influence, not only on London and Canterbury but across Britain and Europe.'

'Eight hundred and fifty years ago today, the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was brutally murdered in his cathedral. Dr Emily Guerry explains what happened next.'

The medieval manor, including Stokesay, Shropshire.

'This clip looks at how William the Conqueror secured control over England after defeating Harold at the Battle of Hastings, by introducing new ways of governing his kingdom.'

'An animation outlining the events of 1214 and 1215, detailing how British barons rebelled against King John, forcing the signing of the Magna Carta.

King John’s wars with France and his desperate need for funds are the reasons for John’s increasingly arbitrary and unpopular rule. The barons are finally pushed too far by constant fines and taxes and rebel, seizing London to force the king to negotiate limits to his power. This leads to the Magna Carta being agreed at Runnymede in June 1215.'

Magna Carta

Can we get inside the minds of medieval peasants? What did they believe? What were their hopes and fears? 

Becket 2020 resources

'Most kings were capable of behaving badly from time to time. Yet, says Marc Morris, when it came to lechery, treachery and shocking acts of cruelty, the king who sealed Magna Carta 800 years ago was in a league of his own ...'

'The first online copy of Domesday Book of 1086: search for your town or village in Domesday Book, find population and tax records, and see the original Domesday folios free online.'

"THE MEDIEVAL MONK is an emblem of unworldiness. Shut away in his cloister, he dedicated himself to a life of prayer, hard work, poverty, self-denial and silence. He cut himself off from the
temptations of the ordinary world in order to give himself to God. The life of a medieval monk was literally ‘out of this world’. The story of the monastic life should be uneventful from beginning to end. But of course it isn’t. Monks couldn’t totally cut themselves off from the material world, even when they wanted to."

'Once you have built your castle, how do you defend it? Ruth Goodman, Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn find out how attackers and defenders conducted medieval warfare.'

'Perhaps the most famous battle in British history is the defeat at Hastings in 1066, when William the Conquerer's Norman forces took victory on the British south coast. Historian Dan Snow puts his walking boots on and sets off to see what the British landscape can teach us about this fascinating battle. From their violent arrival on these shores to their most sustaining legacies, Dan's trilogy of walks follow an evolutionary path through the Normans' era, from invasion to conquest, to successful rule and colonisation.'

Thomas Becket and the power of the Church.

Castle designs.

'William secured control over England after defeating Harold at Hastings. It is one thing to win a battle, but something completely different to take control of a whole country. William managed to do so by force, as well as by wealth. The Domesday Survey, completed in 1086, shows just how completely the Normans were in control, with Anglo-Saxons retaining ownership of a mere 5% of the land - the rest belonging to the King, his Barons and the Church.'

'An exploration of the Black Death, and its devastating impact on medieval England.'

'What was life like for serfs and peasants in the years that followed the Norman Conquest? The module visits Stokesay in Shropshire, a manor house mentioned in the Domesday Book. It explores a life of hard graft in the manor fields, and the role of the manor courts.'

Jason Kingsley examines the food eaten by medieval peasants.

'Today we enjoy a multitude of modern conveniences. Spare a thought, then, for the medieval housewife. How did she cook? Where did she shop? Where did her clothes come from? Toni Mount, author of The Medieval Housewife and Other Women of the Middle Ages, reveals what life was like for a typical housewife in the Middle Ages.'