http://www.essortment.com/all/chesshis
tory_rmct.htm
But chess is more than just a game
of skill, it can tell you much about
the way people lived during the
Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages is
often considered a
time of protection.
Just as in a chess game, the
castle provides protection with
many lines of defense.
If you look at the way a chess board is set
up, then study the pieces and how they are
used……
You will realize that chess is a history of
medieval times in miniature.
The six different chess pieces on the
board represent a cross section of
medieval life with its many ceremonies,
its grandeur, and its wars.
• Chess was played
for many centuries
in China, India, and
Persia.
• No one really
knows for sure
where it actually
originated.
Then in the eighth century A.D., armies of
Arabs known a Moors, invaded Persia.
The Moors learned chess from the Persians.
When the Moors later invaded Spain, the soldiers
brought the game of chess with them. Soon the
Spanish were playing chess, too.
• From Spain, chess quickly spread
through Europe.
• The Europeans gave chess pieces
the names we know today.
Today, we can see that the
pieces represent the way both
ordinary people and persons
of rank lived their lives during
the Middle Ages.
PAWNS
• The pawns on a chess board represent the serfs or laborers.
They were not really part of the feudal system but
everything depended upon the fact that they grew the food
and provided the labor force for the lords.
• There are more of them than any other piece on the board,
and often they are sacrificed to save the more valuable
pieces.
How are the pawns like the serfs?
• There were far more
serfs than nobles.
• The serfs had to serve
the nobles. The
difference between
serfs and peasants is
that serfs were tied to
the lord’s manor and
could not leave. Most
peasants were serfs.
In medieval times, serfs were considered
no more than property of the landowners.
Life was brutally hard for serfs
during this era of history. They were
often left unprotected while wars
raged around them.
They could be traded,
used as a diversion, or
even sacrificed to allow
the lord to escape harm.
ROOK
The castle piece, or rooks as they
are often called, is the home, or
refuge, just as it was a place of
protection during the Middle Ages.
In chess, each side has two
castles, or rooks. During the
middle ages, many lords had
more than one castle or manor.
On the battle field, the knights actually used
a siege tower, a tower on wheels used to get
over a castle wall. The rook in a chess game
could also represent that as well.
KNIGHT
• The knight on a chess board
represents the nobles whose
job it was to protect the lord
and his manor.
•
There were two knights
per each side of the chess
board.
•
.
A lord usually had many knights, or vassals who
swore allegiance (loyalty) to the lord in exchange
for a fief, or piece of land. Thus a knight could
develop his own manor.
Knights in a game of
chess are more important
than pawns, but less
important than bishops,
kings, or queens as was
true in the Middle Ages.
KNIGHTS
• The knights’ purpose in the
game of chess is to protect
the more important pieces,
and they can be sacrificed
to save those pieces just as
pawns can. In the Middle
Ages, the knights’ role was
to protect the lord, the king,
and the church. The knight
was a vassal to the lord
above him.
BISHOPS
The bishop represents the church.
The church was a rich and mighty force in
medieval times. Everyone had to give a
tithe (part of their money or goods) to the
church. Religion played a large part in
every person’s life.
• A bishop was the
name for a priest in
the Catholic church
who had risen
through the ranks to
a more powerful
position.
• There are two
bishops for each side
representing the
importance and
strength of the
Church.
The church in the Middle
Ages included the bishops,
priests, monks, and nuns.
QUEEN
The queen is the only piece on the
board during a chess game that
represents a woman.
Believe it or not,
she is the most
powerful piece of
the game.
In the game of
chess there is only
one queen for
each side.
• Many people do not realize that
queens in medieval times often held
a powerful, yet dangerous position.
• The king was often guided by her
advice.
• In many cases, the queen played games
of “intrigue,” plotting or conspiracy, in
court.
• But, kings could set wives aside, or
even imprison them in nunneries with
the approval of the church, without the
queen’s approval.
• Many queens had to battle other nobles
in court, just to hold her place .
• The queen could
work either for or
against their kings.
• Sometimes the
queen held more
power than the king
did. Eleanor of
Aquitaine was an
example of a
powerful queen.
•
King
.
The king is the tallest piece on the board.
This is the most well defended piece on the
chessboard, as in medieval life
In medieval times, the surrender of the
king would mean the loss of the kingdom
to invading armies and that could mean a
change that could result in worse
conditions of life for everyone.
Richard II surrendering in 1399.
It was to everyone’s
advantage from the
lowest serf to the
highest-ranking
official, to keep the
king safe from harm.
The king is the most important, but
not the most powerful piece in chess.
If you do not protect your king, you lose
the game. If people in the Middle Ages did
not protect their king, they might lose
their way of life.
• So, the next time you set up your
chessboard and get ready to play a
friendly game of chess……
Think of chess as a mini history
lesson.
The pieces on the board
represent a way of life that is
no more, and the real life
dramas that occurred in the
medieval times are now only a
game.
REFERENCES
•
http://www.essortment.com/all/chesshistory_rmct.htm
•
http://www.tenafly.k12.nj.us/~ccutrone/Chess%20Game.pdf
•
http://library.thinkquest.org/26408/feature/chess_history.shtml
PICTURE REFERENCES
•
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rich99.com/images/table_final.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rich99.com/opengl.htm&usg=
__NFEvl7mKiSNGNX2IQfSdVV8WULQ=&h=768&w=1024&sz=94&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=zOR Dg6ksk8PAM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=213&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchess%2Bgame%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1276%
26bih%3D615%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=356&vpy=310&dur=2308&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=160
&ty=122&ei=IaviTJL8N4qRnwenso2PDw&oei=IaviTJL8N4qRnwenso2PDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0
(picture of chess set)
•
•
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__ojjFjeIKvQ/R5CwQOmsT1I/AAAAAAAAACg/l3GpCEq0iww/
s320/Championship%2BStaunton%2BChess%2BPieces.gif&imgrefurl=http://momsterinaz.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive
.html&usg=__67PRFwgYhjL_IzeMmkbKMFItRnY=&h=300&w=300&sz=11&hl=en&start=10&zoom=1&tbnid=Su9idOzMTE JGM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchess%2Bpieces%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%
3D615%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C482&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=121&vpy=114&dur=1918&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=122&ty=
133&ei=EsviTKWzC4T58Aaml9zODA&oei=BsviTL25GsGWnAfb0aGJDw&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:10&biw
=1276&bih=615 (Chess pieces)
•
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.freefoto.com/images/40/11/40_11_4 ---ConwayCastle_web.jpg%3F%26k%3DConway%2BCastle&imgrefurl=http://www.freefoto.com/preview/40 -11-4%3Fffid%3D40-114&usg=__Jla9HoMGMCvfXSG1BYIJmW5M42o=&h=400&w=600&sz=63&hl=en&start=18&zoom=1&tbnid=b7KvHwCFi4JKqM
:&tbnh=145&tbnw=181&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcastle%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D615%26tbs%
3Disch:10%2C185&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=301&vpy=337&dur=1295&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=126&ty=180&ei=JMziTO
XNFML78AaS0djtDw&oei=EcziTJH4BdaznAf5hLXFDA&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:18&biw=1276&bih=615
•
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://chesspuzz.com/images/Sultan_Chess_Piece_Knight.jpg&imgrefurl=http://chessp
uzz.com/chess_sets_review.html&usg=__ZUneeFP11Pld3xwDGoktWmVXII=&h=381&w=251&sz=15&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=_Nop0eX3ise7OM:&tbnh=174&tbnw=117&prev=/ images%3F
q%3Dchess%2Bpiece%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D615%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&
dur=624&ei=Jc3iTJDsN-OQnwertfCHDw&oei=Jc3iTJDsNOQnwertfCHDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0&tx=52&ty=101
•
http://www.clker.com/clipart-23921.html
PICTURE REFERENCES
•
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.white-history.com/moors/problem25.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.whitehistory.com/moors.htm&usg=__phk7BZ7xT1Ygu4aSC4g8iaEOA4=&h=299&w=454&sz=48&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&tbnid=SYWYdCCLbBacbM:&tbnh=114&tbnw=173&prev=/ images%3Fq%3Dmoors%26hl%3Den
%26biw%3D780%26bih%3D439%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=296&ei=aysKTZnnL4GClAfrsYjEAQ&oei=ZysKTYnrK8OC8gbo
4IWhAQ&esq=2&page=2&ndsp=7&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:8&tx=102&ty=88 (moors playing chess)
•
http://www.ancientanatolia.com/historical/maps/persia.gif (map of persia)
•
http://www.irelandhistory.org/pictures/normans-knight.jpg (knights)
•
http://people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN307/4Ev-Trier.jpg
•
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Croxdale_Hall_Medieval_Church.jpg
•
http://www.pillagedvillage.com/images/art/costume1/Monk_Bishop_Priest.jpg
•
http://www.urbandigs.com/pawns.jpg
•
http://www.iconarchive.com/icons/icons-land/vista-chess/256/Rook-Yellow-icon.png (rook)
•
http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/MiddleAgesChurchMonksFranciscan.jpg
•
http://www.englishare.net/literature/guinevere-nun.jpg
•
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yAdUICQZuA4/SOzG8-A-q1I/AAAAAAAAAZs/D6fxNVitHcM/s400/amazon2.jpg (queen)
•
http://www.zeitlerweb.com/img/1485women.jpg
•
http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/4263D976-0DF7-4353-ADDC-586524989470/DL001844.jpg (queen)
•
http://www.visualstatistics.net/East-West/Long%20Waves%20of%20Time/Isabella.jpg