1421
Earl of Warwick supervises trial
of Joan of Arc
1445
Henry de Beauchamp becomes
Duke of Warwick
1449
Richard Neville becomes Earl of
Warwick
1471
Richard Neville (Kingmaker), dies
at the Battle of Barnet
1478
George, Duke of Clarence
imprisoned and killed
1540
Further development at the Castle including a new roof for kitchens
and building of the spy tower.
914
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The Earls
of Warwick
De Newburgh
Duplessis
Maudult
De Beachamp
Neville
Plantagenet
Dudley
Rich
Greville
Teacher Guide
Teacher Guide
Student Worksheet One
Student Worksheet One
Why visit Warwick Castle?
Deep in the heart of England lies the magnificent Warwick Castle. An
imposing fortress, steeped in history and mystery, that captures the
imagination of visitors from all over the world. The portcullis is raised.
You are all welcome to Warwick Castle as friends. Good job too, as those
murder holes in the archway above your head make short work of enemies.
Safe now to explore the Castle’s grand halls and gardens, its gloomy
dungeon and secret conspirators' corners; you're ready to see history made
real in flesh, blood, steel and stone. You don't just visit Britain's Greatest
Mediaeval Experience, you live it.With our specially developed resources,
your students will be transported back to Mediaeval times where they will
be given a taste of what life was like during this turbulent time.
Our resource materials
To help you make the most of your visit we have developed a series of
student worksheets to help you build the visit into your EAL teaching
programme. The worksheets contain pre and post visit activities that have
been developed to complete on-site at Warwick Castle and in the classroom
following your visit. In addition to the worksheets, the resource also
contains a poster for display in the classroom.
Your visit
Please contact + 44 (0)870 442 2371 if you require further
information about your visit to Warwick Castle or visit the website at
www.warwick-castle.com All visitors will be given a map of the Castle
and grounds for easy navigation.
Student worksheet two
This activity can be delivered as a
dictation.
KINGMAKER 1471
In the early months of 1471,
Warwick Castle would have
been a centre of activity as
Richard Neville, Kingmaker and
Earl of Warwick, prepared his
troops for battle. The carpentry
workshop would have been busy
making one of the most
destructive weapons of the
time, the longbow.
Exercise 1
a) The path to becoming a knight began
at the age of seven when the son of a
nobleman would be sent to a lord’s
house to serve him as a page.
b) A page was expected to help his lord
dress, put on heavy armour and was
taught manners and skills in serving
food.
c) Squires were allowed to carry a
sword and shield - a sign of the rank
he had achieved.
Exercise 2
Some of the locations the ragged staff
emblem can be seen are: on the model
of the warhorse, on the archer’s
clothing and on the battle standard
being worked on by the seamstress in
Kingmaker.
Exercise 1
Read the following passage of text about the longbow
carefully and answer the questions listed below.
a) From which type of wood was a longbow usually made?
b) How many arrows could a good longbowman fire in one
minute?
c) Who made the arrows for the longbow?
d) From which bird were the feathers used in making
longbow arrows?
Exercise 2
Below are a list of scrambled words which relate to
Warwick Castle. Can you unscramble them and find
them on the wordsearch?
Answers
Student worksheet one
Exercise 1
THKNIG
A warrior who fought on horseback
LETSAC
A large fortified (protected against attack) building
WOBNAM
A skilled archer used in battle
NOWBOLG
A large, powerful, wooden bow used to fire from a long
distance
ROWDS
A weapon with a long blade and a short handle
RAMROU
Clothing worn for protection in battle
THELME
Protective headgear
EDUNGON
An underground prison cell
DIELSH
Defensive armour carried in battle to protect the body
RAWOR
Long pointed weapon that is shot from a bow
a) yew
b) 15 arrows
c) the fletcher
d) a goose
Students can be
encouraged to write an
additional two or three
of their own questions
to ask another student.
Exercise 2
Word search
Student Worksheet Two
Student Worksheet Two
KNIGHTS
The path to becoming a knight began at the age
of seven when the son of a nobleman would be
sent to a lord’s house to serve him as a page. A
page was expected to help his lord dress, put on
heavy armour and was taught manners and
skills in serving food.
Knights existed between the
year 800 a.d. and the end of
the fifteenth century until
modern means of fighting and
weaponry replaced them.
Training to become a knight
was hard work and involved
many hours of practice.
Exercise 1
Read the following passage
of text and complete the
sentences below.
a) The path to becoming a _________________ began at the
age of______________ when the ______________ of a
nobleman wouldbe sent to a lord’s___________ to serve him
as a ______________.
b) A ______________ was expected to help his lord _________,
put on ____________ armour and was taught ____________
and skills in ____________ food.
A page would also play training games which
included sword practice with wooden swords to
help in his quest for knighthood. At the age of 14
the page became a squire - which was a personal
attendant to the knight. As a squire he learned
riding and all the skills of war as well as hunting, hawking and other sports.
Squires were allowed to carry a sword and shield
– a sign of the rank he had achieved. When a
squire reached 18-21 years of age, a man who
had completed his training was made a Knight
in a religious ceremony.
c) ____________ were allowed to carry a ____________ and
Student Worksheet Three
Student Worksheet Three
BECOMING
A
achieved.
Exercise 2
During the Middle Ages, knights
used a coat of arms to identify
themselves. One man in armour
looked a lot like another, so a
coat of arms was used to
identify a knight in battle. The
Earl of Warwick used this symbol
(right) on battle clothing for his
troops.
On your visit to Warwick Castle, list three locations you can see this symbol used.
Where in the attraction
KNIGHT
The path to becoming a knight was a long one. It began at the age of six or seven
when a boy was sent from his home to work at a nearby castle. There he was
trained by the lord of the castle as a page or personal assistant. Duties of a
page included helping his lord dress and put on armour. He also played training
games that included wrestling, sword practice with blunt wooden swords and
tiny round shields and lance practice on a rolling log pulled by two other pages
towards a target (or quintain). A quintain was a target on one end of a swinging
board with a bag of sand at the other end. When the lance hit the target the rider
had to duck or the bag of sand would strike him on the back of the head.
Tough discipline was handed out to pages and by the age of 14 or so, they were
eligible for the next step: becoming a squire. A squire's training concentrated on
strength, fitness and skill with various weapons. Individual training was only part
of the regimen, as knights also needed to know how to fight as part of a team of
skilled horsemen. Squires would also learn the chivalric codes of conduct as well as
receiving religious training.
Squires would be expected to accompany their master into battle, dress him,
feed him, tend to his armour and arms and care for his horses, all in hope that
one day they would be deemed worthy to be dubbed a knight. If a squire
passed his training, he would usually be dubbed a knight at around the age
of 21 in a special ceremony.
Exercise 1
a) William has just been made a squire,
training with Edward, one of the
of Warwick’s knights. Write a diary
entry for William, detailing how you
think he might spend a typical day
as a squire. You can also include
William’s thoughts and feelings
about becoming a knight and how
he might feel about being away
from home.
___________ - a sign of the ___________ he ___________
Part of the attraction
In the late 13th century, a new weapon was
introduced into battle – the longbow. Longbows
were usually made from yew – as it was
flexible and strong and the wood from which
they were made was cut in winter. King
Edward IV ordered that an archer’s bow must
be equal to his own height – so could be as
much as six feet in length. A good longbowman
could fire up to 15 arrows every minute. The
longbow arrows were made from oak, birch or
ash trees. Making these arrows was the job of
the fletcher, who would attach three goose
feathers to the end of the arrow by binding
them with fine thread or fixing them with
glue.
b) Working with a partner, act out a
play between William and Edward.
Edward should be questioning
William about his training, how he
thinks he is progressing and what
improvements he can make.
Diary Entry