Armour, Crimes and Punishment

Year 7 History

Cecil Hills High School brought history to life last month as our Year 7 students participated in an incursion which showcased the weapons, armour, crimes and punishments of the medieval period. The ‘In the Dark Ages’ Historical Display Company arrived at our school bristling with bloodcurdling weaponry and torture devices from medieval times, leaving our students very thankful that they aren’t controlled by Middle Ages law and order.

The day began with a display of medieval weaponry and armour. The purpose of various spears, polearms and halberds was described and demonstrated with brutal efficiency by our presenter. After the evolution of these weapons was explained, several lucky students had the opportunity to dress up as Medieval Knights themselves. Year 7 roared with laughter watching their peers struggling to complete star-jumps and exercises in the heavy plate and chain mail armour.

Thankfully for our exhausted knights, the students were then given a break to engage first-hand with the vast display of helmets, shields and armour. Students had fun interacting, re-enacting and analysing medieval physical sources in an authentic historical way. It didn’t take long for Year 7 to deduce how fearsome torture devices such as the ‘rack’ and ‘pillory’ worked and it took even less time for them to gleefully load their friends into them!

The subsequent session of the incursion involved students learning about medieval crime and punishment. This gave students a welcome chance to reinforce their knowledge from the assessment task they had been preparing for. Students listened in enthralled horror at the finer details of drawing and quartering, thumbscrews and the knee splitter. Three lucky students were able to experience a safer and much more controlled version of some of these punishments first-hand. Year 7 respectfully asked insightful questions and behaved wonderfully during both days of the incursion.

Students were very positive in their feedback after the incursion, with many saying they felt they found it incredibly interesting and engaging. Overall, Year 7 came away with a wonderful understanding of medieval European history. They were able to connect their classroom knowledge with a brilliant, interactive experience.

Mr O Hillsmith, Term 3 Year 7 History teacher