Dark Ages Webquest Activity Name: _________________________
PART A Instructions: You are about to embark on a voyage throughout the Middle Ages. On
this voyage, you will discover many things about this unique time in Europe's history. Click on
each site below and find the answer to each of the following questions and record your answers
(spelled correctly) on your worksheet. GOOD LUCK AND SAFE TRAVELING.....THIS WAS A
VERY DARK & DANGEROUS TIME IN EUROPE'S HISTORY!! You must answer all of the
questions before proceeding to part B.
Medieval Europe
Timelines
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/timelines.html
1. The medieval times, or middle ages, refers to a time in history that lasted about 1000 years. When
did the middle ages start, and when did they end?
500CE -1500CE (CE stands for Common Era and basically means the same thing as AD.)
The Plague
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/plague.html
2. What was the name of the horrible disease hit Asia, Africa, and Europe in the 1300s? _____the
black death___________________
3. People thought they were getting sick as a punishment from their gods, but it was actually ____flees
and rats___________
that were spreading the disease.
Feudalism
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/feudalism.html
4. In medieval times, there were three major groups or LEVELS of people. They were the
__________nobility________________, the _____________church_________________________,
and the ___________commenors___________________________.
5. If people wanted more land, the would simply start a fight with someone.
6. Around 900 CE, a new form of government called ________fuedalism____________________ was
formed. (hint… It’s the title of this section)
7. In the feudal system, everyone was a vassal. What does the term vassal mean?
________________servent____________ (Feudal Ties Section)
8. What was the ceremony called in which the vassals promised their loyalty to a lord?
_________________homage______
Fiefs
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/fiefs.html
9. ________land___________ in medieval times was broken into fiefs.
10. The fief included at least one village, ____huts___________ for the serfs, the manor house or
_______castle__________, and areas set aside to grow, feed, or catch _________food___________ -
the fields, pasture land, and woods.
Life of the Nobility
Kings, Lords, Ladies, Knights
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/nobility.html
11. During the middle ages, noblewomen had no rights. They were the _____property____________
of their husbands. They could not even chose their own husbands; their ____fathers____________
chose for them. (In the “Lady” section)
12. ________girls___________ did not go to school. They were taught by their mother how to behave
and there was a strict code of behavior in the middle ages.
13. What was interesting about the way the people ate their meals in the middle ages compared to how
we eat today? ___________________________their diet was probably fresher and had mor vitamin d
than us____________________________________________
14. Which church ruled the daily lives of the people in the middle ages? ______________cathlac
church_______________________
Medieval Castles
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/castles.html
15. Why did the nobility build their castles out of stone in the middle ages?
_______________________________________Castles were designed to withstand a siege and to
mount a defense.______________________________
The Manorial System-
Common People
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/commoners.html
16. The common people in the middle ages were the ______farmers___________ and the
_____Peasents________.
17. The _____Serfs________ could not leave the manor without permission, but they weren't
slaves. They stayed with the land even if the lad was sold to a new owner.
18. The ______peasents____________ were free to leave the manor, but usually didn't because
there really was no place for them to go.
19. How did the commoners pay their taxes to the lord?
_______Grow his crops, tend the livestovk, bake the bread, sew the cloths, make the tools and so
the work
20. Could most of the common people read or write? ______No_________
Knight Life
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/knights.html
21. At what age did the sons of noblemen begin their training for knighthood?
__________7___________
22. At age 15, he became a ______squire________________ and was assigned to a knight to learn
how to fight and behave.
23. Once a squire proved himself in battle, he became a ____knight____________________.
24. What was the code called that said that all knights had to be brave in battle and is now the basis of
good manners in most Western societies? _____________code of chivarly___________
Medieval Weapons & Tools
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/weapons.html
25. Knights wore shirts of mail, which was made from hundreds of thousands of
__________interlinked chains of mendal_______________, all linked together to protect against the
blow of another knight's sword.
26. What was a knight's most important weapon that blacksmiths invented to be able to cut through
mail and bone? ________________________________________
27. What was the trajectory weapon called that was used at this time to fling rocks?
__________________________
28. What was the name of the weapon that was used to tear down castle walls?
______________________________
29. A ________________________ was like a giant crossbow that shot giant arrows.
Jousts and Tournaments
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/jousts.html
30. ________________ were public contests of skill between knights. Anyone could enter if they had
armor, a horse, a sword, and a shield.
31. The _____________ was a form of combat between two knights in which the knights rode on
horses and tried to knock each other off their horse using a lance.
32. The _____________ was a team sport in which each side tried to knock their opponent's colored
flags off their backs, using clubs and blunt swords.
33. The ________________ tried to stop the tournaments because they were too violent, but never
succeeded.
