Category Archives: Medieval History
Ethiopia and Prester John
We were studying Ethiopia last week and decided to take a little side trip to Prester John. Prester John was a mythical Christian monarch known to Europeans in the Middle Ages. The legend said that somewhere in the mysterious east … Continue reading
Christianity and the Modern World
I went to public school, which wasn’t all bad. I learned a ton of great information, probably most importantly I read, wrote about, and discussed the classics in an advanced English class under an incredible teacher, which gave me the … Continue reading
Milk Jug Knights
We made these sets of knights armor out of milk jugs to go along with our medieval history studies. I needed three milk jugs for each child . . . at our house that’s a lot of milk jugs. {6 … Continue reading
Mini Castle Craft
You can easily make these mini castles with your kids while studying the middle ages. Printable Castle Craft Just print the castles out onto card stock, color, cut along the dotted line over the castle and around the heavy line … Continue reading
Edward III’s Coat of Arms
Edward III was monarch of England during the early years of the Hundred Years War. He changed his coat of arms from the three lions of King Richard I to the lions quartered with the fleurs-de-lis of France. He did … Continue reading
Canterbury Tales for Kids
The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer in England toward the end of the 1300′s. Less than fifty years earlier the Black Death had swept through Europe, killing perhaps a third of the population, the peasants of England had … Continue reading
Viking People
We made toilet paper roll Viking guys from DLTK as an activity to go along with our Viking studies. We also colored maps of the raiding routes and areas of trade and settlement of the Vikings. You can print out … Continue reading
Illuminations
We’ve spent a good deal of time studying the monks who kept literacy and learning alive during the Middle Ages lately. Looking at some of their original manuscripts is amazing. They aren’t just writing; they are works of art — … Continue reading
King Arthur’s Crown
Kids like King Arthur and kids like wearing things on their heads. So here’s a crown to make when reading about King Arthur. Some people say Arthur was nothing but a story, a mythical make-believe person. Others think he was … Continue reading
Pencil Catapult
Tim built this pencil catapult, perfecting his design as he went along. He just used two materials: pencils and yarn. Pretty cool. Catapults were invented by the ancient Greeks and have been knocking down walls ever since. At first used to hurl crossbow bolts … Continue reading
The Tales of Nasreddin
In much of the world, stretching from China to the Swahili Coast of Africa and from the Balkans to the Middle East, Nasreddin is as common a figure as Aesop is to us. He, like Aesop, lived in a small … Continue reading
Wokou: Japanese Pirates of the Middle Ages
Wokou is Chinese for pirate and literally means Japanese-bandit. They were a problem in the middle ages. The Japanese pirates would sit among the many islands of the Japanese archipelago and the Chinese coast waiting for a nice juicy trading vessel to … Continue reading
Medieval Indian Ocean Trade Routes
Many cities around the rim of the Indian Ocean became fabulously wealthy during the middle ages through trade. The Swahili coast of Africa had ivory, gold, ebony, sandalwood and slaves to trade for Indian spices and drugs. China had silk to … Continue reading
Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire Europe was in turmoil for years, with the borders of kingdoms changing rapidly. In the east the Roman Empire, which we call the Byzantine Empire, was alive and well for another thousand … Continue reading
Map of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
After the Romans abandoned Britain, telling them to “look to their own defenses”, they scrambled to do just that, because they were immediately invaded by the Picts from the north. King Vortigern sent out a cry for help to the … Continue reading
Coat of Arms
Often we see a coat of arms displayed as a super fancy crest with lots of embellishments. The actual coat of arms though is the simple symbols, colors and images in the center of all that fluff. Here is a … Continue reading
Middle Ages Marionettes
When we’re studying different periods of history we try to do activities or crafts from that time period. It’s fun for the kids and it helps things to stick in their minds. Here is a picture of our kids with … Continue reading
