Castles and the Decrees of 4

Good Morning Students :)

Block A/F

Today we looked at the Decrees of August 4th. These decrees were written shortly after the Great Fear in France, a period of time when people were scared that the democracy the National Assembly was trying to create, was being destroyed by King Louie XVI before it could begin. Out of this great fear, chaos ensued throughout the countryside. Peasants were attacking nobles, and burning down estates. The National Assembly in response to these riots created the Decree of August 4th. With this new law, they abolished Feudalism, abolished paying tithes to the church, and abolished the privileges of the nobility to be able to work in any part of government, military or church office.

The Decrees of August 4th can be found here.

The Question Sheet can be found here.

Block BD/EH

Today we looked at the rise of Tournaments in the 10th century of France, and how by the 12th century they had migrated to England. Tournaments were a way of continuing to practice and perfect a knight's fighting skills while they weren't away at war. Often times people competed in a variety of events, from jousting to melee. They would also train using events such as the Ring Joust (where knights tried to spear their lance through small diameter ring) or even Quintain Jousting, where knights tried to hit a target. This was also a prominent time when chivalry began to develop and be implemented. Noble women would often give tokens to the knight who would fight for the courtly ladies.

The notes for Tournaments can be found here.

We also explored the creation of Castles which emerged in England following the Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror came over from France and established his dual Kingdom of France and England. We saw how castles were a means of defence for many people and explored how they were made by looking at a few videos.

I will post the videos on the video page, so take a look at how even today, people using medieval techniques are trying to create for themselves a beautiful castle.

We also looked at ways that people would break into castles, also known as 'laying siege.' Using balistas, trebuchets, and catapults, men and women would try to find their way into the castle.

We then did entry #4-6 in our journals.