1. SOW: Which medieval woman should be in a textbook? Year: 7. Concept: Significance – types of significance. Period: Medieval. Content: 3 medieval women – Margery Kempe, Eleanor of Aquitaine & Margaret of Anjou. Outcome task: To design a chapter, to go in a textbook, on the most significant medieval woman of the three (the chapter consists of a title, picture, three paragraphs and note to the publisher). Please look through slideshow to see all animations and transitions. All resources are at the end of the PowerPoint. L.O.1: To analyse how interpretations of Eleanor of Aquitaine help us to consider the ways in which she might have been significant. L.O.2: To analyse academic literature, in order to examine in what ways Eleanor of Aquitaine has been considered significant by Alison Weir. L.O.3: To depict the most significant features of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life. Lesson 3: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Starter: Introduce Eleanor of Aquitaine – students draw inferences from the picture to determine who Eleanor of Aquitaine may have been and what she may have been like. Introduce the notion that pictures, as well as words, can display significance – and, that alongside textbooks, academic literature has a role to play in all of this. Introduce some facts about Eleanor of Aquitaine. Link to Alison Weir (who clearly sees these actions as significant). Task: Students listen to an extract from Weir’s book and have to draw it – paying attention to the most significant bits. This will then be deconstructed to asking students why the details they have drawn are significant (drawing on criteria words). Task: Text analysis – students read through themselves (in order to become more comfortable with text) a passage by Weir on Eleanor of Aquitaine. They should highlight quotes which explicitly, or implicitly, state that she is significant – and then explain this in one of the four boxes on the sheet (differentiated version available / however text remains the same). Introduce textbook element again. Task: Students have to create a picture which details as many significant elements as possible within it. NB: This will give students practice on how to produce a picture for their outcome task in lesson 5.

2. EQ: Which medieval woman should be in a textbook? How are they significant?…

3. Now, let’s have a look at our second medieval woman…

4. Medieval Women Which medieval woman should be in a textbook? 1445 – Margaret d’Anjou marries Henry VI 1430s – Margery Kempe

5. 2 Eleanor of Aquitaine The Reign of Henry II 1154-1189 Eleanor of Aquitaine becomes Duchy in 1137 Why is Eleanor of Aquitaine significant?

6. What can you see? How has she been portrayed? What words could we use to describe her? You are about to see a portrait (painting) of Eleanor of Aquitaine. With the person next to you, come up with a list of AS MANY words that describe what Eleanor of Aquitaine might be like, just from the portrait.

7. Pictures, whether new or old, have the potential to tell us a lot about a person – even if we know nothing about them to begin with! You have just seen a famous picture of Eleanor of Aquitaine, but there are many others – Just like these ones to the left.

8. This one is particularly interesting because, although it is clearly very old, it has actually been used fairly recently by someone for something else. Can you guess where you might find this picture nowadays? If you guessed in or on a book give yourself a merit. Now clearly if someone has written a WHOLE book on Eleanor of Aquitaine she must be significant… surely? So who is she and what did she do?

9. Who is Eleanor of Aquitaine? Duchess of Aquitaine (a territory in France), 1137-1204. Queen Consort (wife of the King) of France, 1137-1152, after marrying King Louis VI… However, she gets an annulment and ends up marrying King Henry II of England, making her Queen consort of England from 1154- 1189. 2000 BC2015 ADJesus’ BirthMedieval Period 400-1499 AD

10. Eleanor of Aquitaine Who should be in a textbook? 2 Plays an active role in running Henry’s Empire for two decades – travelling between France & England. Leads 300 women and 1000 knights during the Crusades (a religious war). Involved in the meetings on military strategy and tactics. Does any of this make Eleanor of Aquitaine significant? 2000 BC2015 ADJesus’ BirthMedieval Period 400-1499 AD

11. This lady clearly thinks so. This is Alison Weir, a writer of history, and author of Eleanor of Aquitaine – the front cover of which we saw earlier.

12. While textbooks (and yes, the internet) are very useful sources of information, books still hold a lot of influence over the way we learn things. You are about to listen to a few extracts from a particular chapter within Weir’s book. Your task is to: In your books, draw the scene – and what is going on in the scene – described by Alison Weir. Pay special care to getting AS MUCH detail into your picture. Insert into your drawing AS MANY words as you can think of that you believe describe her. For example, I might put ‘headstrong’ because she appears to do as she pleases.

13. ‘The court is full of nice, expensive things – Eleanor enjoyed these ‘luxuries’. There was always lots of music and poetry around Eleanor, as she was happy to pay for it. Above all, she loved her land; it was her home and she remained loyal to it. Like many of the great females before her, she was clever, sophisticated and confident. She was full of life and often acted on her instinct – she certainly did not let society tell her how she should behave. While she shared many of the qualities of women before her, she would go on to ‘surpass (outshine) them all in fame and notoriety’. What does Alison Weir say about Eleanor of Aquitaine? 2000 BC2015 ADJesus’ BirthMedieval Period 400-1499 AD

14. What did you draw? What did you write? Does any of this make Eleanor of Aquitaine significant? If so, in what ways is she significant and why? Remember your criteria words here.

15. But hold on, we should probably look at at least one more passage from Weir… After all, she did write an ENTIRE book on Eleanor of Aquitaine…

16. “It is fair to say, that there were women who went beyond the expectations of society and got away with it: the evidence suggests that Eleanor of Aquitaine was one such woman. There were then, as there are now, women of strong character who ruled feudal states and kingdoms, as Eleanor did; who took decisions, ran farms and businesses, fought lawsuits and even, by sheer force of personality, dominated their husbands. It was rare, however, for a woman to exercise political power. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her mother-in-law, the Empress Mathilda, were among the few notable exceptions, unique in their time. The fact remained that the social constraints upon women were enforced by Church and state that few women ever thought to question them, but meekly accepted their lot. Eleanor herself caused ripples in twelfth-century society because she was a spirited woman who was determined to do as she pleased.” Where does Alison Weir say Eleanor of Aquitaine is significant? 1.Highlight places where you think she mentions Eleanor of Aquitaine’s significance. 2.Use our criteria words to finish the sentences: ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because…’ (remember to give good supporting examples). Extraordinary Different Especially Big Impactful Makes us aware 2000 BC2015 ADJesus’ BirthMedieval Period 400-1499 AD For this task you will need the sheet that looks like this: And a highlighter (or a pen to underline with).

17. It is fair to say, that there were women who went beyond the expectations of society and got away with it: the evidence suggests that Eleanor of Aquitaine was one such woman. There were then, as there are now, women of strong character who ruled feudal states and kingdoms, as Eleanor did; who took decisions, ran farms and businesses, fought lawsuits and even, by sheer force of personality, dominated their husbands. It was rare, however, for a woman to exercise political power. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her mother-in-law, the Empress Mathilda, were among the few notable exceptions, unique in their time. The fact remained that the social constraints upon women were enforced by Church and state that few women ever thought to question them, but meekly accepted their lot. Eleanor herself caused ripples in twelfth-century society because she was a spirited woman who was determined to do as she pleased. Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because… Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because she exercised real political power. This was quite extraordinary as it was rare for a woman during the medieval period to have be given such powers. Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because…

18. Your task is to: Highlight places where you think Alison Weir mentions Eleanor of Aquitaine’s significance. Use our criteria words to finish the sentences: ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because…’ (remember to give good supporting examples).* *Make sure you can convince your teacher, and the people around you, that your reason definitely supports the claim that Eleanor of Aquitaine is in some way significant.

19. So what of our textbook then?

20. As well as having interesting titles history textbooks also try to engage their readers through pictures. These pictures should show the reader the most significant details about something.

21. Your task is to: Come up with a really interesting picture which might be found in a good history textbook. The MOST IMPORTANT thing about this picture is that it MUST show the reader the most significant details about Eleanor of Aquitaine. A drawing of ‘any-old’ queen won’t interest any Year 7s. However, if there were a 1000 Knights (or as many as you can fit on a page) with swords and spears alongside her, that might prove both more interesting and more revealing as to why Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant. To do this task well: think of as many significant details about Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life: how could you fit them all into one drawing that perfectly sums up why Eleanor of Aquitaine was so significant in her lifetime? On the next slide is another one of Mr Horrocks’ (awful) examples – however, he has done his on Margery Kempe, so that he doesn’t get accused of stealing any of your brilliant ideas – :

22. Tears because she is believes in God so much. Her autobiography. Someone else writes it for her. Some people thought she was a heretic and should be burnt at the stake. Church because she is now honoured in Anglican communion. Yes, really, this is it!

23. Admittedly, Mr Horrocks shouldn’t expect any calls from the Tate asking him to donate his work to their galleries any time soon. However, Mr Horrocks has tried to include as many significant details about Margery Kempe’s life into his picture. This way someone just glancing at his picture might be able to learn something about why Margery Kempe was significant. Could you do the same now with Eleanor of Aquitaine?

24. Your task is to: Come up with a really detailed picture which reveals why Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant. Remember this does not have to be a piece of art. The most important thing that you need to do is include AS MANY significant details about Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life in your drawing as possible.

25. Resources

26. “It is fair to say, that there were women who went beyond the expectations of society and got away with it: the evidence suggests that Eleanor of Aquitaine was one such woman. There were then, as there are now, women of strong character who ruled feudal states and kingdoms, as Eleanor did; who took decisions, ran farms and businesses, fought lawsuits and even, by sheer force of personality, dominated their husbands. It was rare, however, for a woman to exercise (use) political power. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her mother-in-law, the Empress Mathilda, were among the few notable exceptions, unique in their time. The fact remained that the social constraints (controls) upon women were enforced by Church and state that few women ever thought to question them, but meekly accepted their lot. Eleanor herself caused ripples in twelfth-century society because she was a spirited woman who was determined to do as she pleased.” Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because…

27. “It is fair to say, that there were women who went beyond the expectations of society and got away with it: the evidence suggests that Eleanor of Aquitaine was one such woman. There were then, as there are now, women of strong character who ruled feudal states and kingdoms, as Eleanor did; who took decisions, ran farms and businesses, fought lawsuits and even, by sheer force of personality, dominated their husbands. It was rare, however, for a woman to exercise (use) political power. Eleanor of Aquitaine and her mother-in-law, the Empress Mathilda, were among the few notable exceptions, unique in their time. The fact remained that the social constraints (controls) upon women were enforced by Church and state that few women ever thought to question them, but meekly accepted their lot. Eleanor herself caused ripples in twelfth-century society because she was a spirited woman who was determined to do as she pleased.” Eleanor of Aquitaine was significant because… She was fairly extraordinary as she exercised real political power. She was different because unlike most women she caused ripples in society She was fairly unique