Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes, and Life in the

Middle Ages

Welcome to the Middle Ages!

Definitions

Types of Tales• Fables• Folk Tales• Nursery Rhymes• Fairy Tales

How Told?Why Told?

By minstrels, for news and entertainment.

History of the Middle Ages

• The Middle Ages is considered to have begun with the Norman Conquest in 1066

• The Middle Ages is considered to have ended about the time of the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492

Feudal System

• The King owned all of the land

• The nobility held land for the king, and paid taxes

• Peasants worked land for nobility; paid taxes

• Church also received money from nobility and peasants.

Personal Life• Short, brutal, hard• Health (humors)• Average life span• Food• Money• Housing• Heat in winter• Marriage• Travel

Knights, Armour, and Weapons

• Who can be a knight?• Fealty• Weapons: longbow, cr

ossbow, sword, mace, axe

• Tournaments• Armour• Animals: hawk,

falcon, destrier• Crusades• Chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is an honor code that pledges a knight to respect ladies and defend them against harm. A knight pledges to always do his best in battle; he may honorably break this pledge at the request of a lady

Crime and Punishment

• Swift and severe• Drawn and quartered• Boiled in oil• Hanging• Rock-A-Bye Baby• Guillotine/display

heads• Punishment for

stealing• Punishment is a

picnic• Debtor’s prison

The Black Death

• 1347-1350• Trade Routes• Caravans and ships• Grain

The Black Death

• Rats• Fleas• Bite Humans• Plague Outbreak• 30% of the

population of Europe dead

• Ring Around the Rosie

The Spread of the Plague

The Cinderella Story

• Yeh Shen, The Chinese Cinderella

• Grimm Brother’s Version

• Disney Version• Native American

Version• Many other versio

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Thank You For Watching

Click on the picturesfor more information!

The Tudors

• After the middle ages, we had the Tudor Family ruling in England.

• Here are some links to information about King Henry, Bloody Mary, Elizabeth I, and Mary, Queen of Scots