Feudalism and the Medieval Era Fairy Tale Project
As you already know, the Roman Empire ruled much of Europe, so after its
collapse, life was difficult and the Middle Ages was a long period in European
history where people lived to simply survive. As a result of this challenging
time in history, economic and political systems were developed to keep order.
Objective: To develop an understanding of the feudal system and the every day
roles of citizens in the medieval era.
Project: You will be composing a fairy tale that illustrates the life and hardships of
people in medieval and feudal times. Your fairytale will:
1) Include the main characteristics of a fairy tale which is to be:
- fantasy
- set in the past
- contain good and evil characters
- a plot that is a problem or a challenge that is also solved
- has a happy ending
- and shares information with the reader
2) Explain how the political feudal system worked and why it was created,
without directly stating this. Be creative, show me don’t tell me!
3) Define the roles of people in feudal medieval Europe, without directly telling
the reader. Show me don’t tell me!
4) Weave important medieval topics throughout the fairy tail including guilds,
trading, diseases, medical treatment, crime and punishment, leisure and
entertainment, homes and households. Your reader should understand what
each of these terms mean after reading your fairytale, but remember, you
will not directly tell the reader what these key terms are, rather you will
show them! 
Grading: You will be graded on the following for your
project:
1) Individual daily participation
2) The research you conducted in order to understand
the key terms and ideas in this unit (how you filled
out this packet)
3) Creativity. How effective were you in “showing me
not telling me.” For example, how did you get the
reader to know that a guild is a group of people who
work in the same craft or trade, without telling them
the definition.
4) Ability to educate the reader on the key terms and
topics in the project. Your reader should understand
how the feudal system worked and affected the every
day lives of medieval citizens and should understand
the roles of the characters you created.
GRADING RUBRIC
YOUR PROJECT CHECKLIST
1) Perform research by filling out the attached outline
2) Map out your fairytale ideas (use attached template to do this)
3) Compose a rough draft of your fairy tale
4) Revise your fairy tale to include parts that will educate the reader on how
the feudal system worked and the daily lives of medieval citizens. So what
does this mean?
If your story rough draft is complete, in the revision step you
might want to go and focus on describing your characters so that
the reader really understands how your main character, a
peasant girl, looked and felt on a daily basis.
If your story rough draft is complete, in the revision step you
might want to go back in to your story to add some great
imagery on what the home of your serf looked like.
5) Typed your fairy tale using ________________________ and include some images to
enhance the story.
Medieval Fairy Tale Checklist
MAIN CHARACTERS:
peasants
1) the dress of peasants
2) the lifestyle of peasants
3) their role and treatment in society
4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced
5) their education
6) their living conditions, where they lived
7) health
nobility
1) the dress of the noble you choose to highlight
2) the lifestyle of nobels
3) their role and treatment in society, their importance
4) some of the foods they ate and the entertainment they experienced
5) their education
6) overall understanding of what a vassal was and their job
7) living conditions, where they lived,
clergy
1) about them being exempt from taxes
2) their lifestyle/role and position in society
3) overall understanding of what a monk was and their job
4) overall understanding of what a friar was
5) living conditions, where they lived
EXTRA INFORMATION:
1) the atmosphere of a castle
2) what daily life was like in a castle (routine)
3) mention of the “ladies” of the castle and their job
4) mention some of the workers of the castle
5) how the castle protected itself
6) the atmosphere of a peasant home
7) mention 3 different types of entertainment and what they did to entertain
8) make sure to mention 3 trades/guilds and describe what the job was
9) mention black death and what the disease was and how it affected people
10) feudalism- how did it rule medieval life?
Some good websites
Daily life of people in Medieval Ages
Medieval Monarchs (kings and queens)
http://suite101.com/a/life-of-a-medieval-king-a355337
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Ancient-History/it-was-good-to-be-king-inmedieval-times.html
Medieval Nobility (Lords, Knights)
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-knight-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-noble-lord-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-noblewoman-middle-ages.htm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/clothing.html
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/nobles-in-the-middleages.html
http://prezi.com/ytpzso97bpnl/daily-life-of-a-noble-lord-in-the-middleages/
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/nobility.html
http://wccshoeing.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/life-as-a-noble/
Medieval Peasants
good definitions of peasants and overview of them on page 18 :
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.
pdf
http://www.medievalmaidens.net/peasants.html
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-women-middle-ages.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/daily-life-peasant-middle-ages.htm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/morcloth.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_peasants.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/commerce.htm
http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/middleages/feud_peasants.htm
Entertainment & Food:
http://www.lordsandladies.org/entertainment-middle-ages.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/food.htm
Medieval Peasant homes:
http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/homes.html
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/MedTowns.htm
Health and Lifestyle:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gbetcher/373/MedTowns.htm
http://www.lordsandladies.org/health-in-the-middle-ages.htm
http://www.medieval-life.net/diseases.htm
Church & Clergy/Bishops/Monks/Friar- pg 3
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/clergy-in-the-middle-ages.html
http://web.hcpss.org/~Sarah_Tokar/role%20of%20church.pdf
Nobility= King, Queens, Princesses, Vassals- pg 5
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Medieval Monarch Homes (Castles and Manors)
http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/life.htm
Trades in Medieval Times- pg 8
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Castle Workers- pg 9
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Entertainers- pg14
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Military- pg 15
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
Black Death
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/the-black-death.html
Research
Feudalism
You may use your textbook and the Internet. It is suggested that you use both, to ensure that your research
is thorough.
Good textbook pgs for research on feudalism are 19, 21 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
Good websites:
The Feudal Structure of the Medieval World: http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/hifeudal.html
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/feudalism.htm
http://www.lscacamp.org/Portals/0/Medieval%20People.pdf
What was the feudal system and why was it necessary to develop a political system like this?
(b19, b21. t22)
How was the feudal system set up? (b19, you will need to read t22 to understand who each
picture is)
Understanding order in the feudal system: (tmb22)
All the land belonged to the _____________________________ and some of the
land belonged to the _________________________________. The King kept some
land for himself and gave other land to the
_______________________________________________ who in turned promised to
protect him during times of war with knights.
Lords rented their land to _______________________________ who worked for
them. There were two types of peasants and some were called
_______________________ who were tied to the land they worked on. They
could not leave and had to _____________________
his __________________________ in exchange for a small plot of land of their
own.
Most Lords and knights lived on ____________________________ which were
large estates, which included a __________________________ or a manor house,
one or more ________________________________, and the surrounding
____________________________. Manors were located in the
_____________________________, far from the towns. Peasants had to produce
everything the people on the ____________________ needed. Few goods came
from outside of the manor for the Lords and the Monarchs.
Peasants
Typical Homes and Living Locations/Conditions
Typical view by society/Treatment by society
Typical Food & Entertainment
Typical Education and Status in Society
Typical Dress (men)
Typical Dress (women)
Daily activities- women
Daily activities- men
Typical Work/Career- women
Typical Work/Career- men
Were men and women peasants different treated differently?
Clergy
(the 2nd website has a lot of information)
Why were clergy exempt from paying taxes?
How did clergy people (all positions) help society, in general?
Who were monks? Describe their goals and lifestyle
Who were friars? Describe their goals and lifestyle
Nobility
--- you decide which one of these you want to describe in your story. If it’s your main character, then you will need a lot of information. If it’s a
secondary character, then you will need some information. Below are the necessary things to discuss regardless of your characters position in
the story.
Vassal
What was the vassal’s job and how/why did he take care of kings land?
You decide on a king/queen/or prince/princess/etc
Describe the person’s position and importance in Europe
Dress clothing, accessories, etc
Their lifestyle (luxuries, entertainment, hobbies)
Life in a castle
What was the atmosphere of a castle like (its looks and feeling)?
What was daily life like in castles, the jobs that needed to be done, regular
occurrences?
What did the “ladies” of the castle do?
Who were some of the people that worked lived in the castles besides the nobility?
Describe them and their job/role for living in the castle
How did castle protect itself?
Entertainers
What were 3 jobs of entertainers- describe the entertainment they performed
Trades/Guilds
What were 3 trades/guilds that medieval people held- describe the job they
performed
Black Death
What was the black death and how did it affect medieval society/people?