At some point, remind the knights that they have a duty to protect the peasants.The only exception to this is the collection of the tithe – the knights should give their entire collection directly to the clergyman. So each time the knights go around to collect candy, have the knights give half of their collection to their lord (clergyman or nobleman), and the lord should in turn give half of that share to HIS lord (the king). The rights and obligations went right up the pyramid: knights owed nobles their fealty, and the nobles owed the same to the king. A payment to be able to grind grain using the lord’s mill.A tithe – a direct payment to the church.Several days of labor per week on the lord’s projects.A large portion of all crops grown on the manor.You want the peasants to end up with one or two pieces of candy, and there are 5-6 obligations, so collect about 1/5 of their candy every time. Each time you explain one of the obligations, instruct the knights to collect a portion of each peasant’s candy to represent those obligations. Explain this to the class, and then begin to enumerate these obligations, listed below. In return, they had several obligations to the lord. Under feudalism, peasants were allowed to live on their lord’s manor and received his protection. Assign each group of desks to one of the knights, and tell the students who are not part of the pyramid that they are peasants Explain that this grant is called a fief, and the land itself is a manor. Each knight has been granted a piece of land and peasants to work it.Assign each knight to be the vassal of the clergyman or noble Likewise, the knights have agreed to become vassals to the clergy and nobility. The clergy and nobility have agreed to become vassals of the king.As I do this, I like to draw the relevant part of the feudal pyramid on the board. Also move the desks in the class into several groups, one for each knight. Each student in the feudal pyramid will need two plastic bags: one to keep his personal stash of candy, and one to collect “rights and obligations” candy from his vassal. Have the king sit on a raised chair at the front of the class, with the clergy and the noble on either side and in front of him, and then with the knights spaced evenly in front of them. Select six students to be the actors in the feudal pyramid: Classroom Arrangement The candy needs to be individually wrapped (ie mini Twix or Snickers) so that it can be traded around. You’ll need to have each student bring in a bag of candy for this exercise. The teacher provides a running narrative of how feudalism works throughout this activity, making it a very interactive lecture. Feudalism is another one of those concepts that can be entertainingly and deliciously demonstrated in a classroom setting by having students play the roles of the different social stations in the pyramid and making candy representative of the rights and obligations due between lords and vassals.
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