Friday, October 17, 2014

Illustrating the Feudal System

We have been studying the Middle Ages, or Medieval Times. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to it, but have been surprised at how much I have learned! It was an exciting time period. Rising and falling dynasties. Kings and assassinations. Castles. Robin Hood and Genghis Khan. The Crusades. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. 

When studying societies we learned about the feudal system. It was a very new idea introduced by William the Conqueror. 

Basically, it said this: 
The king owned all the land.

The king gave the lord land and castles. 
The lords gave the king service in his army and paid taxes.

The lord gave land to the knights.
The knights promised to serve the lord.

The peasants (or farmers) gave the lords food.
The lord gave the peasants land.

So we used a pyramid of Polly Pockets and other various small figurines and white chocolate chips. The peasants started out with all the chocolate chips and then we redistributed the chips to illustrate how the wealth trickled up the feudal pyramid.





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