Change the way you look at fun homeschool projects and plan a Medieval Celebration for your family that isn't stressful!
Our most recent dive into Medieval History has brought us to learning about the Guilds and how the Guilds drove business and trade during the Middle Ages. I wanted to give the kids a taste of Medieval Business so we read about what it would take to become a Master Craftsman. First, several years were spent being an Apprentice, then a Journeyman, then a Craftsman, and finally a Master Craftsman. In order to be approved to hang out a sign and begin a business, we learned that you would first need to get a "Masterpiece" approved by the Guild. This sounded like we could create an exciting activity around it. So, we began our Medieval Trades Activity (seen in the image below). The kids chose a trade. Then, they followed the Masterpiece activity suggestion for their trade. For instance, to be an Armorer, you would need to create a shield or helmet (cardboard works great!) Here is my young Armorer, hard at work on a Shield to present as her Masterpiece: She had to get her Shield painted and ready to present to the Guild (her teacher) and it was proclaimed an approved "Masterpiece". Now she has confirmed herself to be a Master Craftsman at her trade. She is now ready to prepare a sign that she can set up, showing off her Tools of the Trade, or a product that explains what she is skilled at. She chooses a Sign Page, and off she goes. This is always a fascinating study for children who are already reading or are beginning to learn how to read. For of course, in Medieval Society, few could read and all signs must be designed for an illiterate clientele. We have create the basic sign sheets (see below), ready to be designed with the "Tools of the Trade" or whatever image the children come up with that they feel most accurately depicts what they do. In the case of my little Armorer above, she is drawing an armored hand to depict her Trade. Upon completion of her Sign, she was ready to start up work as a Master Craftsman Armorer! What fun! Everything needed for this activity can be found in our most recent product, Medieval Signs and Subtleties. Not only are the Sign Sheets, the Guild Information, and the Medieval Trades Activity (above) included in this great packet, but we also include a lesson on how to create a Medieval Subtlety from Marzipan, one of the few delicacies of the Middle Ages. Keep following us for more fun historical projects that help kids enjoy each facet of the learning process. In the meantime, you can check out this latest product, Medieval Signs and Subtleties, in our Store.
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I have waited the entire homeschool year of our medieval study to reach the subject of food. I planned it for the month of January when all of the holiday cooking would be over so that the boys an…
We are diving into a second year of classical history. This year's study will begin with the Fall of Ancient Rome and travel all the way through the Renaissance, the Reformation and up to the beginnings of Colonization. At the moment, we've been taking a little time with the early Christian monks. We began by reading our chapter in Story of the World, Volume 2, which tells us of the noble aspirations with which the monasteries were begun. We took a listen to some Gregorian Chant. Not all Gregorian Chant is created equal. It should be made up of just men's voices, and no instruments. Because that is the point, of course: it's the music you get when a bunch of guys are stuck together with few creative outlets and a pious belief system which said the only channel for pleasing God was by singing for your supper. "Chant" has a pretty, though melancholy sound, and will give your young listeners an idea of the primitive nature of good music in that era. You can almost feel the dank, cool halls of stone. We even tried walking across the hardwood floors on our knees, like the monks sometimes did when they were serving their penance. This was the kids' idea, actually. Because it's fun if you don't have to do it and if you can get up once your knees get sore. The very serious look is part of the pretend play. We also took some time to look at various Medieval Illuminations, that other channel for the monks to let loose their creativity. And using this latest product from our store, we took some actual quotes from monks and illuminated the copied scripts ourselves. There are three quote options to choose from in our "Medieval Illuminations" Packet. On each one, there is room for added illustrations, and coloring in the letters. First, the kids drew images like they had observed in the Illuminations we looked at in advance: small animals, vines, leaves, and flowers. And then, they colored them in. To take it up another notch, we could highlight parts with gold paint, like the monks did. But this was a pretty good beginning. But let's get onto the feast, shall we? Now, I know you're going to ask the question, "What's with the robes and blankets?" This was another child-inspired plan. When they heard that the monks would wear simple brown robes and walk slowly and piously around their monastery, nothing would do but that my kids had to run off and grab blankets and robes that would give them the same monastic look. I was allowed to snap one photo of them pacing slowly across the living room, but only from the back. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure. You can see our cat was thoroughly confused at their slow tread and bowed heads, but the kids were loving this monastic pretend. But let's talk about this Medieval Feast we enjoyed, shall we? First, the main course: You can vary your root vegetables. You could throw in a turnip or a parsnip, but I would definitely keep the onion for flavor. This was an easy recipe and borrowed from many recipes online. As BrandNewVegan explains here, this humble stew was the standard fare for most peasants in the Dark Ages. Now, about those Honey Cakes, which were the favorite of this meal, I owe the recipe to the free online PDF found on "The Circle of Ceridwen Cookery", which has some other delectable looking middle age recipes I'd love to try out. They taste a bit like a rough biscuit, slightly flavored with honey. I would definitely recommend letting your students flavor them up with a bit of butter and additional honey. Next, some sides we included which were probably reserved for very special occasions, were the slice of pear and bit of hard cheese. There are a variety of cheeses you could allow your kids to sample. Some cheeses you could use are Cheddar (first recorded use is in 1500), Gorgonzola (first recorded use is in 879), or Gouda (first recorded use is in 1697). Now, about our Mead. Monks are known for making mead. This is not their actual recipe in its fermented version, because for obvious reasons, I'm not suggesting alcohol for kids. This is the un-fermented recipe before it ferments. But, you can make the actual version, from a 17th century monk recipe right here. It takes a good 9 months to ferment properly, and to be honest, I don't think I have the patience to wait around for it. But I'd still personally like to try out real mead,(I have always wondered about it during the reading of almost every slightly historical fantasy book out there) and I found a version that can be purchased here on Amazon. (It has great reviews!) In the meantime, you can get the gist of the taste of mead, by brewing up a starter batch of the un-fermented brew: And that's it, that's our Medieval Feast in a nutshell. If you have additional medieval recipes you would like to share, please post a link in the comments. We love to add to the information gathering! And thanks for reading.
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During this last week the authors of Haandkraft were all camped at Spøttrup castle in Salling, Denmark. We had a wonderful week, and got some time to try out a lot of stuff. One thing being cooking some medieval food. Of course there is no such thing as a truly authentic medieval dinner, but we made some food inspired by sources from the period. The course that got the best response were the pies, wich I will describe here. It won't be a specific recipe, as I don't have one. but I will give some pointers in what direction to go. Konzil von Konstanz (ÖNB 3044, fol. 48v), c. 1465-1475 To make pies you first need to make some dough. In this instance we made a so-called "Hot water-crust pastery"-dough, wich is mainly made from flour, water/milk and lard. 500 g wheat flour 2,5 dl water (or half water, half milk) 250 g lard The water/milk is brought to boil in at pot. When the lard is all molted the liquid is poured into the flour and mixed with a spoon. After this you should knead the dough until it is uniform and without lumps. Leave the dough to cool for a while. The cooler the dough the easier it will be to work with. Room temperature should be fine. We made two different types of filling. One with chicken and one with minced pork and beef. Chicken filling: Pluck the meat of one cooked chicken and roast it in butter, with some garlick, fresh ginger, thyme and cinamon. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. Pork/beef filling: Roast some minced pork/beef in butter. Add chopped mushrooms, sage and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Shaping the pies: We shaped the pies using a small wooden bowl (ca. 15cm in diameter). First make a flat piece of dough about 5mm thick. Push it down into the bowl so that the edge go over the edge of the bowl, and place some filling in it. Then make a small disc to cover the filling, and cut the edges flush with the edge of the bowl. Fold down the edge, and make sure the folds stick in place. If you don't the pie will come open when you bake it. You could probably glue it with egg or water, to make sure it stays in place. Tip the pie out of the bowl, and poke a small hile in the top. After the pie has been baked you can pour different kinds of sauces into the hole or seal it with lard or butter. Bake the pies in the oven until thay are golden brown. In a normal oven that will be somewhere around 30 minutes at 200 degrees (celsius). We had a butter and honey sauce with these. Equal parts butter and honey melted togeather in a small pot and seasoned with a pinch of salt. Enjoy! (I know we did)
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Popular Medieval Spices at the National Museum Dublin by Wiblick on Flickr.
