Imagine a medieval feast: the air smoky with hearth fire, the kitchen table piled not with glossy magazines but with lists of grain, working oxen and taxes — each line a small story of obligation and survival. We will taste those stories, and then walk, in silk shoes, into Charlemagne’s court to see how power and taste were served.
Purpose and learning goals (mapped to ACARA v9 outcomes)
- Understand everyday life for peasants in the Carolingian world and compare it to life at Charlemagne’s court, using primary sources.
- Develop historical skills: sourcing, corroboration, contextualisation, inference and explanation of change and continuity.
- Produce evidence‑based explanations (short essay or creative historical account) that use the supplied primary sources.
These align with ACARA v9 History emphases: knowledge and understanding of the medieval period (ca. 600–1000), and historical skills: analysing sources, constructing evidence‑based arguments, and explaining causes, consequences, continuity and change.
Overview of the primary sources you supplied
- Charlemagne’s capitulary of Frankfurt, 794 — lists prices of staples: shows what bread, wool, animals cost and hints at economic organisation.
- Abbot Irminon’s polyptych (c. 800) — an economic survey of estates (Villeneuve‑St.‑Georges): who worked the land, what they owed, and what was produced.
- Charlemagne’s capitulary 'De villis' — instructions for manor management, kinds of crops and livestock expected; shows royal interest in estate productivity.
- Inventory of Asnapium (c. 800) — what a specific estate held: tools, animals, grain stocks — concrete archaeological‑style detail.
- Diedenhofen capitulary, 805 (Heribannum) — military tax obligations required of freemen: a reminder peasants and freemen had duties beyond food production.
- Einhard and Notker, Lives of Charlemagne — literary biographies giving portraits of court life, royal personality, ceremonies and court culture; useful for reading elite perspectives.
Step‑by‑step lesson plan (1–2 lessons, 50–60 minutes each)
- Starter (10 minutes): taste the context.
Show an image of a village manor and a court scene. Ask: "If a loaf of bread is written down as costing X, what else would we like to know?" Introduce the idea of primary sources as 'tastes' of the past.
- Source rotation (25–30 minutes): small groups, close reading.
Divide the class into groups. Give each group one primary source (or one short extract). Tasks for each group (15 minutes):
- Summarise in one clear sentence what this source tells you about daily life or obligations.
- List three specific details (numbers, names, goods, duties) and one thing the source does not tell you.
- Judge the source: who wrote it? Why? Is it likely to be biased?
Then groups rotate and compare with a second source for corroboration (10–15 minutes).
- Synthesis (15 minutes): compare peasants and court.
Bring class back together. Create a two‑column board: "Peasant life" and "Court life" and fill with evidence from sources. Highlight obligations (taxes, labour), material conditions (food, tools, housing), and voices (who is speaking in the source?).
- Assessment checkpoint / homework:
Choose one of: (a) a 400–600 word evidence‑based paragraph answering "How did peasants support Charlemagne’s court?", using at least three sources; (b) a diary entry by a peasant or courtier using details from the inventories and lives.
How to read each source — what to look for
- Capitulary of Frankfurt (794) — prices: Note prices and units (measurements of grain, sheep etc.). Ask: can peasants afford these prices? Are prices stable or regulated?
- Polyptych of Irminon (c. 800): Find statements about labour obligations (corvée), rents in produce or money, and the kinds of households: serfs, free peasants, slaves. This is the nearest thing to a census.
- De villis: This is prescriptive: royal expectations about agricultural management. Use it to infer ideal production and the king’s involvement in rural administration.
- Asnapium inventory: Treat like a shop inventory — count animals, tools, grain. Quantitative details here are gold for arguing about standard of living and economy.
- Diedenhofen (Heribannum): Look for obligations of military service and taxes on freemen; this shows peasants’ duties were not only producing food but also supporting defence.
- Einhard and Notker: Read as biographies — ask what they emphasise: piety, magnanimity, ceremony. These give the court’s image — often flattering — to be weighed against administrative documents.
Key analytic questions to guide students
- What do the documents tell us about what peasants produced and what they owed? Give specific numbers or items.
- How did the king (or royal administrators) try to control or regulate rural economy? Which sources show this?
- How does life at court, as described by Einhard/Notker, depend on agricultural output and obligations from the countryside?
- Which voices are missing from these sources? (For example: women, lower peasants’ own words.)
- What changes or continuities can you identify within the period 780–805 based on these texts?
Putting it into practice — a sample evidence paragraph (PEEL)
Point: Peasant production underpinned Charlemagne’s court by supplying food, labour and taxable goods.
Evidence: The Asnapium inventory lists specific stock — grain, cattle and tools — that an estate maintained, while De villis prescribes what a well‑run manor should produce for royal needs (fruit trees, vegetables, animals). The polyptych of Irminon records peasants’ obligations in produce and labour, showing regular contributions rather than occasional gifts.
Explanation: Together these sources show an organised flow: peasants produced staples and fulfilled labour obligations recorded in the polyptych, the inventory shows stores that could feed households and court retinues, and De villis represents royal attempts to standardise production, making that flow more reliable for the king.
Link: Therefore, Charlemagne’s court — its feasts, officials and military obligations — depended on a managed rural economy sustained by peasant labour and estate administration.
Assessment ideas and rubric (use one)
- Short evidence essay (500–700 words): "How did peasants support Charlemagne’s rule?" Use at least three primary sources.
- Creative diary or monologue (400–600 words) written as a peasant or courtier, including three factual details drawn from sources and an explanation of obligations.
- Podcast/voice recording (3–5 minutes) presenting "A day in the life" with source quotes referenced.
Rubric (simple):
- Evidence and use of sources (40%): Are at least three sources used? Are quotations/paraphrases accurate?
- Argument and reasoning (30%): Clear claim, organised explanation, causal links.
- Historical skills (20%): Sourcing, recognition of bias, contextualisation.
- Communication (10%): Clear writing, engaging presentation, correct spelling/grammar.
Differentiation and extension
- For students who need support: provide a scaffolded paragraph template and highlight key sentences in the primary sources to use.
- For advanced students: ask for a short critique of Notker vs Einhard — whose portrait of Charlemagne is more useful for social history, and why? Or ask them to quantify: estimate how many people an estate’s stock could feed per year using the Asnapium numbers.
Source‑criticism tips to teach explicitly
- Ask: who wrote this and for whom? Administrative lists (polyptych, inventory) were written to record resources and obligations; biographies (Einhard, Notker) aim to praise or explain a ruler.
- Consider purpose and audience: De villis is prescriptive — tells us ideals more than everyday variations.
- Corroboration: when two administrative documents agree (e.g., polyptych + inventory), confidence increases. When a biography says the king was generous but administrative records show strict levies, explain the difference in perspectives.
Quick lesson closures and reflection prompts
- Exit ticket: write one sentence that uses a number or item taken from the documents to show a peasant obligation.
- Reflection question: "If you were a peasant, would you prefer a strict De villis manor that promised stability, or a more independent life with uncertain rents? Why? Use evidence."
Further resources
Primary texts you provided are available in translation from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook (Fordham) — these are excellent for classroom citations. Encourage students to read the short extracts from the Charlemagne section and the specific pages for each document (capitularies, polyptych, Asnapium, Einhard, Notker).
Finish by reminding students: sources are like recipes — each gives you ingredients; historical skill is how you combine them, taste boldly, and serve an honest story.