Medieval Trial – Roleplay!
Students complete a creatively written ‘crime report’ against someone else in the class based on one crime from a list provided. Anyone accused of a crime then has to produce a defence statement and the cases proceed to trial, with the credibility of the prosecution and defence cases resting on how effectively they use key terms from the Middle Ages that they should now be familiar with. We then proceed to trials by battle, water and fire (see picture!). At the end of this process, a handful of people in the class will be guilty on TWO charges – one of the original crime they were accused of, and one for perjuring someone else. These people will face severe punishment in the next part of the roleplay exercise later in the unit…

Part of “Could you get justice in the Middle Ages?” – Essay assignment with roleplay activities

In this study unit students will consider several aspects of the Medieval criminal justice system. At the end of each activity they will produce a paragraph concluding. When all the activities are completed, they will join these paragraphs together as the basis of an overall essay project.