Women and the medieval Church
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe how the Church influenced ideas about the role of women in medieval Britain.
Key learning points
- The medieval Church was extremely powerful and had a significant influence on people's ideas about the role of women.
- Medieval Britain was a patriarchal society in which men had more power, control, and opportunities than women.
- The work completed by medieval women was partly determined by whether they lived in the countryside or in towns.
- The medieval Church represented one route to greater independence for women.
- Some medieval women became literate through the Church.
Keywords
Church - the Church is the organisation of the Christian religion
Priest - a priest is a religious leader who performs ceremonies, rituals and provides guidance
Patriarchal - patriarchal relates to a society that is controlled by men
Guild - a guild is a group of a certain type of craftsmen with their own rules
Nun - a nun is a woman who has withdrawn from normal life to dedicate her life to God
Common misconception
Medieval women completed no work other than housework and looking after children.
Although they were responsible for housework and childcare and did not have the same opportunities to work as men, women in the medieval period completed a range of other work; the type of work they completed was determined by where they lived.
Teacher tip
Support pupils to understand the power and influence of the medieval Church by analysing medieval doom paintings and exploring medieval beliefs about Heaven and Hell.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The medieval period is sometimes called __________.
Q2.In the medieval period, the dominant Church in Western Europe was the Catholic Church.
Q3.Starting with the most powerful, place these medieval social groups into a hierarchy.
Q4.Which of these statements best describes medieval England?
Q5.Match the social group to its role in society.
Made laws and ruled the country
Helped the king to rule and gave him advice
Ran the Church and gave the king advice
Fought in war for their lord and the king
Farmed their lords' land
Q6.Medieval society was very ; nearly everybody believed in God and attended church regularly.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1. oversaw the most important moments in people’s lives, such as baptisms.
Q2.In what areas of life did the Church have power and influence?
Q3.Medieval Britain was a society in which men had more power, control and opportunities than women.
Q4.Which of these best describes women's lives in medieval England?
Q5.In medieval towns, the system was often used to exclude women from crafts and trades.
Q6.One way in which women were able to achieve greater independence was to become a...
To help you plan your 9 history lesson on: Women and the medieval Church, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 history lesson on: Women and the medieval Church, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the Thematic study: how has the role of women in British society changed? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.