NEW 2015 RESOURCES
Medieval Studies Theme Page
This "Theme Page" has links to two types of resources related to the study of medieval studies. Students and teachers will find curricular resources (information, content...) to help them learn about this topic. In addition, there are also links to instructional materials (lesson plans) which will help teachers provide instruction in this theme. Please read our disclaimer.
1066
Archive
- A short meta-list of links to resources connected with the Battle of Hastings
and the Norman Invasion of England.
-
Angelcynn:
Anglo Saxon Living History
- Information on the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, and clothing and appearance
of the pagan Anglo Saxons, and an electronic copy of the Finnesburh Fragment.
-
Anglo
Saxon England
- Timelines, narrative histories, history of London, biographies of various
royal houses, historical maps, original sources and texts, and church history.
-
Anthology
of Middle English Literature (1350-1485)
- Biographical information, and electronic copies of works from such authors
as Chaucer, Gawain, Langland, Julian, Kempe, and Malory.
-
Byzantine
and Medieval Studies Site
- A meta-list of links from Fordham University.
-
Castle
Builder
- In this Grade 7 lesson plans, students are challenged to design a Welsh
castle. In preparing for task, they use Internet resources to learn about
the daily life of Welsh people and conduct research on castles of that period.
They then create a blue print and construct a model (poster, three-dimensional
model, a tour video, or a sculpture) of their castle.
-
Castles
on the Web
- A meta-list of links to WWW resources on castles. Topics include: castle
tours, castle images, a glossary of castle terms, and castles for kids.
-
Cathedrals,
Pyramids and Mosques
- A multicultural teaching unit for gifted students in grades 4/5. The unit
examines different aspects of city life in Florence, Tenochtitlan, and Timbuktu.
Topics covered are: family life, government, religion, art and architecture.
Comparisons are made between cities then and now.
-
Core
Knowledge Lesson Plans
-
- Europe
in the Middle Ages The focus in this intermediate level language
arts and social studies unit (8 lessons) is on the development of European
civilization during the Middle Ages. Topics covered are: geography, feudalism,
chivalry, Norman Conquest, growth of towns, England, plagues, myths and
legends.
- Medieval
China: How to Put Some "Tang" in your Medieval Dynasties Fifteen lessons
for intermediate students on the T'ang and Sung dynasties.
- Of
Monks and Minstrels In this six day unit, intermediate students create
a minstrel gallery, play the recorder, listen to lute music and Gregorian
chant, and perform an English sword dance and original ballad compositions
at a Medieval feast.
-
Feudal
Life: What Was It Really Like to Live in the Middle Ages?
- Life in the feudal period is described through articles on religion, homes,
clothing, health, arts & entertainment, and town life.
-
Footwear
of the Middle Ages
- Everything you ever wanted to know about medieval shoes.
-
Geoffrey
Chaucer
- This site is intended as support for some Harvard University courses. Some
of its resources are quite academic in nature (e.g., comments/explanatory
notes on the Canterbury Tales, information on contemporary authors) and might
be used by senior high school students. However, there are also documents
which give general background information on the times (e.g., Life and Manners,
Science) and these are more generally applicable.
-
[A]
Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments
- Descriptions, pictures, and links to over 30 musical instruments of this
period.
-
Images
of Medieval Art and Architecture
- The site contains pictures of cathedrals, abbeys, parish churchs and castles
in England and France (other country pages were under construction at the
time of review). There are also maps of England over various time periods.
-
Knighthood,
Chivalry, and Tournaments Resource Library
- This is a resource base, provided by the "Chronique, Journal of Chivalry"
for those interested in medieval studies. Information is available on Castles
& Architecture, Arms & Armour, Philosophy/Chivalry , Fighting, Knighthood,
Medieval History, and Tourneys. In addition, there are two glossaries of terms,
one on Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournament and the other on Arms and Armour.
-
[The]
Labyrinth: A World Wide Web Server for Medieval Studies
- One of the most extensive meta-lists of links to medieval resources available.
It's a searchable web server from Georgetown University.
-
Medieval
Drama Links
- A meta-list of links all focused on medieval theatre, including drama (eg.
Costumes), music and dance.
-
Medieval
Fiefdom
- ThinkQuest students created the series of articles describing life in a
medieval fiefdom. A high bandwidth option exists for those wishing high grade
multimedia accompaniement.
-
Medieval
Life: Squires, Maidens and Peasants
- This teaching unit from the Yale-New Haven Teachers' Institute is intended
for grade 7 students. Each of three concepts (feudalism, the castle, and the
manor) is introduced through a fictional story where students can meet medieval
figures at their own age level. Combined with background information that
the teacher provides, these stories lead to related topics and activities.
-
Medieval/Renaissance
Food
- Links to articles/publications about medieval food as well as to individual
recipes.
-
Medieval/Renaissance
Wedding Information
- Lots of information here.
-
Medieval
Scotland
- Information about Scottish history, names and clothing in the middle ages.
-
[The]
Medieval Technology Pages
- A somewhat academic treatment of technological innovation in western Europe
during the Middle Ages. Articles can be accessed via a time line but the subject
index is more complete.
-
Medieval
Times
- Here's a two month interdisciplinary unit for intermediate students with
suggested activities in PE, Music, Art, Language Arts, Social Studies, Math,
and Science. Caution: you may have difficulty reading the small sized print
and/or picking it out of the coloured background.
-
[The]
Middle Ages
- This thematic unit is designed for primary students who discover the Middle
Ages through multidisciplinary activities.
-
Mr.
Donn's World History Page: Medieval/Middle Ages
- Lin and Don Donn have pulled together an impressive set of links to over
25 instructional units and lesson plans on the middle ages including coverage
beyond the traditional study of European countries. In addition, they have
links to: School Pages, Lesson Ideas & Webquests; online games and activities;
and resources. Click on "Medieval/Middle Ages" to access.
-
Net
Serf
- Don't miss out on this significant meta-list of links to medieval resources.
Links are organized into headings such as: archeology, architecture, art,
culture, drama, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, people, religion,
and science and technology. Be prepared for a long download.
-
Online
Medieval and Classical Library
- This University of California (Berkeley) site contains links to the full
texts of selected English, Irish, Icelandic, French, Italian, and Norwegian
Medieval writing, most of which are in the original language. The entire database
of texts is searchable by word or phrase.
-
ORB
(Online Resource Book for Medieval Studies)
- ORB is an on-line source of resources on medieval studies prepared in aÊcooperative
WWW project by Medieval scholars in many institutions. It includes: an index
of original essays arranged by topics, a number of resources for teaching
(e.g., readings on the various periods, full text of original sources), links
to other medieval resources on the WWW, and a reference shelf that has links
to primary source graphics that may be downloaded. Check out especially the
Internet Medieval Sourcebook, an electronic sourcebook of public domain and
copy-permitted medieval documents.
-
Renaissance
Theme Page
- This CLN Theme Page has links to curricular resources as well as to instructional
materials (e.g., lesson plans) for teachers or students wishing to extend
their studies from the medieval period into the Renaissance period.
-
Sworn
to Serve
- Junior high students explore the political structure of feudal society
and the impact Christianity had on medieval life in this two week unit.
-
TrackStar
- TrackStar is an online interface which allows instructors to create lessons
for students by sequencing existing instructional content in various web sites
within a lesson. Students explore one topic at a particular location within
one web site then move on to the next topic at another web site. The list
of topics remains visible throughout the lesson so that students can remain
on track. Explorations of the web sites beyond the designated instructional
content are also possible.
This link is to their search page from where a keyword search on "middle
ages" will produce numerous hits. ("Medieval" also works but provides fewer
hits). Caution #1: Many of the web sites that these lessons access may already
be on this CLN page - it's the creation of lesson objectives and the sequencing
of the tours through the sites that make the lesson potentially useful to
your students. Caution #2: The quality of the lessons (e.g., definining
objectives, finding web sites, sequencing the tours) will vary widely within
the TrackStar collection.

Note: The sites listed above will serve as a source of curricular content in Medieval Studies. For other resources in Social Studies (e.g., curricular content, lesson plans, and theme pages), click the "previous screen" button below. Or, click here if you wish to return directly to the CLN menu which will give you access to educational resources in all of our subjects.