Your Medieval
Village in 1349:
Worksheet
You will be expected to write a historical story about what happens to the
inhabitants of a fictitious village in 1349 when the Bubonic Plague strikes.
Your focus will be to be as historically accurate as possible regarding the powers of
the church and the feudal system. Life during the Middle Ages was ruled by these
systems and your story should reflect your understanding.
Use this worksheet to help develop the skeleton of your story/village.
A) Answer these background questions
1. Where is your village?
2. How big is your village? (no more than 200 people)
3. What kind of landscape is there? Hilly, flat? Woody?
4. Is the soil fertile?
5. What is the climate like?
6. In what season(s)does your story take place?
7. Is the lord of the manor kind or cruel?
8. Is the priest kind/caring/useful/a bit eccentric?
9. Does your village receive a lot of travelers? Is it along a trading route so that visitors are seen quite regularly or
is your village pretty much isolated?
10. Is there an “outsider” in your village who is misunderstood and is therefore the “witch” or “sorcerer”?
11. Is there a mill? A baker? Any other type of skilled craftsmen?
12. Has your village experienced ransacking in the past by neighboring tribes? Does your lord provide good
protection at those times?
13. Is the lord’s manor a small castle or is it a big country home?
B) Answer these questions about the perspective in your story
1. How are you writing your story? From which perspective? Are you writing from the noble’s, a serf’s a
priest’s perspective?
2. Are you writing a narrative (they)? A diary (I)? A play? A newspaper report? Etc…
3. Are you presenting your final project in a written format or in an audio file?
If you decide to create an audio file remember that you must also hand in a ‘map’ of your village.
C) Write what you know about life in the Middle Ages. Choose facts that you believe are important and show
your understanding of life back then. Include the correct vocabulary.
Feudal system: _____________________________________________________________________________
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The power and influence of the Catholic Church: _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
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What did people believe about heaven?________________________________________________________
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The Bubonic Plague: (What facts do we now know, but the people from your village did not know?)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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What did people believe about the Black Death?_ (ideas on Humanities class website) ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
You are now ready to start writing your story. 
DO - Remember you are being graded on the historical accuracy of your story!
(Rubrics on Humanities class website)
- Include details that show what you understand about life in the Middle Ages: Feudal System (social
order) and the power of the Catholic Church.
- Talk about how the sickness spreads rapidly through the village. (ideas on Humanities class website)
- Mention life in the village for the survivors after the plague struck. (ideas on Humanities class website)
DON’T - Do NOT change your mind once you have started developing your story.
You are getting graded on your understanding of the concepts and NOT on your creativity.
- Do NOT get carried away with describing a village festival or tournament if this means you are not
completing the requirements for the task (show you understand the feudal age and what people
believed.)
How Long? As long as you need to do a great job! Probably more than 6 paragraphs!