Medieval Castle Project Due January 15, 2016

 • Assignment: Design, build and explain a realistic castle that

can withstand an attack from an army that possesses weapons that were used in the Middle Ages (500 – 1500 C.E.). You must complete the following tasks:

1. Create a short story about how you obtained the castle. Did you overthrow previous inhabitants? Was there a major battle involved? Did you have it built yourself by peasants or slaves? If so, what did the lord do to become a lord and get the funds needed to build such a castle?

*Be CREATIVE and keep it REALISTIC to the time period.

  

2. What are the living conditions at the castle? How many people live there (the lord, his/her

family, knights, serfs, families?) Do you grow crops? Do you raise livestock? If so, what kind? Do you have a water source? Is there a specific religion throughout the kingdom? Does your kingdom trade with anyone? If so, who and what?

*Be SPECIFIC and REALISTIC!

 3. Choose one person from the castle – (Lord of the castle, Lady of the castle, Knight, and a Serf). You

will describe what a typical day would be like for that person during this time period.

4. Create a floor plan for your castle. Be sure to label specific parts of your castle: moat, chapel, keep, gate, drawbridge, towers, well, armory, dungeon, barbican, curtain wall, death traps? Give specific dimensions of the castle as well (dimensions must be realistic and given in feet).

*Floor plan must be poster size, hand drawn, & colored 5. Include the location of your castle on the given map – location must be within Western Europe during

the middle ages (Frankish Kingdom, Holy Roman Empire, England/Britain, Italy, Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia).

 6. Describe the immediate physical surroundings of

the castle in detail (rivers, forests, sea, coastline, mountains, hills, grasslands, etc.).

*1 paragraph

7. How are you going to defend your castle if it is attacked? Choose 3 or more medieval weapons for castle defense. Why did you choose these weapons? (outside research will be needed for

medieval weapons)

*1 paragraph per weapon chosen 8. Describe 3-5 defensive features (architectural features) designed to protect your castle from attack. (outside research might be needed)

*1 paragraph per feature chosen 

9. Choose 3 medieval weapons for your knights to carry. Why did you choose these weapons? Hint: armor and shield do NOT count as weapons.

*1 paragraph per weapon chosen 

10. Design a shield for your knights to carry. The shield must have at least 2 colors and a minimum of 3 symbols. On a separate sheet of paper you need to explain what the symbols and colors stand for or represent

*Shield can be poster size & hand drawn. The shield may also be created using wood, cardboard, styrofoam, or other arts & crafts materials. 1 paragraph to explain the colors & 1 paragraph to explain the symbols chosen.

 11. A bibliography MUST be included for any and all

sources used.

Medieval Castle Project Writing Prompt

To be used with #3

Discuss what the role of your specific character (serf, knight, lady of the castle, lord) is to a castle during the Middle Ages. This should be realistic to the medieval time period.

(200 to 250 words)

*Potential Questions to think about:

How does their role and duties contribute to the overall success/failure of the castle?

What are the living conditions for that specific person?

What are some of the specific duties of for this person?

What is an average day like in the life for this person?

Objective Points/Points Possible Comments

Castle Story /10

Living Conditions /5

Floor Plan, Labels, & Dimensions

/15

Location/Map /3

Castle Surroundings /3

Castle Defense Weapons /7

Architectural Features /7

Knight Weapons /5

Knight Shield & Explanations /20

Bibliography /5

Castle /20

TOTAL /100

Medieval Castle Project – Grading Rubric