Medieval Education staff are used to dealing with students at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of their courses of study. Our presenters will usually ask their audiences to give samples of what they have already studied, and tailor their presentations to this knowledge.

However, schools that wish to prepare their students with a background that would be helpful to getting more out of the presentations, should consider the following:

Why did the (Western) Roman Empire collapse?

What does the word Medieval mean? (We consider both Dark Ages and Bastard Feudalism within the scope of our presentations). Why did Renaissance scholars consider it to be the middle?

How did feudalism work? What elements were there in the social ‘pyramid’?

Vikings.

William the Conquorer, and the battle of Hastings.

Any of these concepts provide a good foundation to work with (though again, some schools use our programs right at the start as their foundation).

For those schools that have us visit near the end of their programs, it is sometimes possible to develop more complex themes:

The battle of Crecy as the beginning of the end of feudalism.

What role did the church play in Medieval life? (Something we rarely get time to cover except by special request.)

The rise of the merchant and middle classes.

The effects of the printing press.

Rest assured that almost any question or concept that a student contributes to our sessions will be welcomed and incorporated by our presenters. We have been astonished and delighted over the years by comments on everything from ranks within the monasteries to the issues of ‘white lung’!

If you have specific issues that you would like covered in our presentations, please contact our office prior to the presentation day.

PS: Special needs: if any student is likely to have specific difficulty participating in activities, or to respond significantly differently from standard expectations, please inform the presenter by the start of the relevant presentation. Such information will used for the comfort and educational participation of students in accordance with Victorian Privacy guidelines.

Schools are authorized to make copies of this form for their staff.

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