Medieval lives in Material Culture
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Key learning points
- In this lesson, we will study archaeological and other material artefacts. This will help us learn more about the daily lives of medieval peasants.
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4 Questions
Q1.
What is the most likely reason why the Luttrell Psalter was created?
To design a book that could be copied and distributed across the country.
To give Geoffrey Luttrell favour with the king, after donating it to him as a present.
To make Geoffrey Luttrell a lot of money when he sold it to a collector.
Q2.
According to the Luttrell Psalter, medieval peasants would...
Complete all jobs as one big team.
Divide all jobs between men and women and never work with each other.
Make the men perform all the work while women raised children.
Q3.
Why is it difficult to know how realistic the Luttrell Psalter is?
Five different artists were involved in making the psalter, and therefore they cannot be trusted.
The drawings are not very good quality, because Sir Geoffrey did not pay for the finest artists.
There are not very many drawings in the psalter, meaning we still do not know much about peasants.
Q4.
Which is the most accurate statement about Domesday Book and the Luttrell Psalter?
Both Domesday Book and the Luttrell Psalter have things they don't reveal, so cannot be seen as useful sources.
Domesday Book tells us nothing about villages, so the Luttrell Psalter is automatically better.
The Luttrell Psalter tells us nothing about England as a whole, so Domesday Book is automatically better.
5 Questions
Q1.
Which of these best described the study of material culture?
Building your own reconstruction of past buildings using authentic materials
Searching through records for written descriptions of daily lives
Visiting an historical site and comparing it to a modern map
Q2.
Wharram Percy is an excellent option for studying material culture because...
It is in London, so university historians can visit it easily with their students
It was a totally unique village, unlike any other in England. This makes it very interesting.
It was a very large town, so has lots of examples of ordinary lives
Q3.
The child's leather shoe discovered in a pond had several leather patches. Which of these conclusions did Christopher Dyer reach?
All medieval shoes had lots of patches.
It had been built to be as strong as possible, and the patches were added by the original maker.
The child who owned it did not like it's patchy appearance, and threw it away in the pond.
Q4.
Why were doom paintings often found in churches?
Medieval peasants believed painting fire on the wall would keep the building warm.
Peasants, who read the Bible often, believed it was their duty to paint these pictures.
They were used to scare away peasants from the building.
Q5.
Let's say we found an unknown object at Wharram Percy, and it looked slightly like a handheld tool. Which source would be more helpful for providing an answer for what it is?
Domesday Book, because the book is decorated with illustrations of daily life.
Domesday Book, because we can see how common these items were across the country.
The Luttrell Psalter, because the book contains lots of written information about daily life.