The tournament was a much-anticipated event, and Sir Oliver had been training diligently for this day. He was determined to prove his worth as a knight and make his family and kingdom proud. With the sun’s first rays peeking over the horizon, he awoke, ready to embark on a journey that would test his courage, skill, and chivalry.

Sir Oliver donned his gleaming armor, which was adorned with a fierce lion emblem, symbolizing his family’s valor and strength. As he strapped on his trusty sword, he could feel the weight of responsibility and honor resting on his shoulders. With a deep breath, he headed to the village square, where a cheering crowd awaited his arrival.

The tournament grounds were gloriously decorated, with colorful banners fluttering in the breeze and the sounds of fun and laughter filling the air. Knights from far and wide had gathered to prove their strength and skill. The jousting field was marked with a long wooden tilt, a wooden barrier, where the knights would charge at each other on their powerful horses.

Sir Oliver’s heart raced with excitement as he climbed on his warhorse. Thunderstrike was a magnificent beast with a jet-black coat and a fiery spirit. The crowd roared with anticipation, knowing that this young knight was determined to make a name for himself.

A trumpet signaled the start of the joust, and Sir Oliver and his opponent prepared to face each other. They charged towards one another at an incredible speed, their lances held high. Then the two knights collided with a clash, but Sir Oliver’s lance found its mark, shattering his opponent’s shield.

The crowd erupted into cheers at Sir Oliver first victory. He nodded humbly, showing respect for his fallen opponent, a true knightly quality.

As the tournament continued, Sir Oliver faced more challengers, each battle testing his mettle and courage. The day wore on, and the sun’s rays began to cast long shadows over the field. Sweat dripped down his brow as he battled knights of all ages and backgrounds.

In the final round, Sir Oliver faced a skilled and honorable opponenent. The joust was a thrilling contest of skill and valor, but in the end, Sir Oliver’s lance hit true, knocking his opponent from his horse. He had won the tournament and the crowd’s adoration.

The people of the village cheered and applauded as they hailed their new champion, Sir Oliver. He was presented with a magnificent trophy, a golden chalice that shone as brightly as his armor. With humility and gratitude, he accepted his prize, but it was not the trophy that filled his heart with the greatest joy. It was the knowledge that he had upheld the code of chivalry throughout the tournament, treating his fellow knights with respect, bravery, and honor.

Knighthood first began to take shape and gain popularity in the early Middle Ages, particularly during the 9th and 10th centuries in Europe. Knights were more common in the Western and Northern parts of Europe, including what are now modern-day France, England, and Germany. 

**Chapter 1: The Birth of Knights**

Knights were like the superheroes of their era. Just as you might admire your favorite movie characters, people in medieval Europe looked up to knights. These brave men started their journey as young squires, like you, who learned the art of combat, chivalry, and honor. They trained hard, and when they became skilled and noble, they were finally knighted.

**Chapter 2: Suiting Up in Shiny Armor**

One of the most exciting things about knights was their armor. Imagine wearing cool, shiny armor like Iron Man! Well, knights had their own amazing suits of armor. There were two main types: plate armor and chainmail.

– *Plate Armor*: This was like a medieval Iron Man suit. It was made of metal plates that covered a knight’s body from head to toe, giving them excellent protection. But, it was also very heavy!

– *Chainmail*: This was like a super-strong, flexible, and lightweight shirt made of tiny metal rings. Knights wore this beneath their plate armor to stay safe in battle.

Knights’ armor wasn’t just for protection; it also had a unique design on the shield, banner, or helmet, representing their family or country. It’s like wearing your favorite superhero’s emblem on your shirt!

Knights didn’t spend all their time just looking awesome in their armor; they had a noble duty to protect their kingdom. They went on exciting adventures. These adventures were often battles, but we won’t get into the scary details. Instead, think of knights as the brave defenders of their kingdoms, fighting to keep their people safe. 

Imagine a grand sports event where knights would show off their skills, not in battle, but in friendly competitions. These were called jousting tournaments like Sir Oliver’s. Just like how you might compete in soccer or basketball, knights competed in these thrilling events.

The main event was the joust, where two knights on horseback charged at each other with long, pointy spears, trying to knock each other off their horses. It was like a medieval game of chicken!

Knights also participated in melees, where they fought with blunted weapons in mock battles. It was all in good fun and showed off their strength and skill. These tournaments were like the medieval version of your favorite sports, and people would gather from far and wide to cheer for their favorite knights.

Knights were not just strong and brave; they had a special code of conduct called chivalry. Chivalry was like a knight’s rulebook for being a true hero.

These are a few of the virtues:

– *Honor*: Knights had to be honest and fair, and they would never cheat or lie.

– *Respect*: They treated others with kindness and respect, especially those who were weaker or in need.

– *Courage*: Knights had to be brave in the face of danger, just like your favorite action heroes.

– *Loyalty*: They were loyal to their king, their country, and their fellow knights.

– *Helping Others*: Knights helped those in need, just like how you might help a friend or family member.

So, how does learning about knights relate to your life today? Well, the lessons of chivalry can be applied even now. You might not have a suit of armor or a sword, but you can be a modern-day knight in your own way.

– *Honor*: Always be honest and fair. Never cheat or lie to win.

– *Respect*: Treat everyone with kindness and respect, just like the knights did.

– *Courage*: Stand up for what’s right, even when it’s tough.

– *Loyalty*: Be loyal to your friends, family, and the people you care about.

– *Helping Others*: Always be ready to help those in need, just like a true hero.

You see, being a knight isn’t just about fighting battles; it’s about being a hero in everyday life. The code of chivalry can guide you in making the world a better place.

And so, our journey through the thrilling history of knights in medieval Europe comes to an end. Knights were the heroes of their time, protecting their kingdoms and living by the code of chivalry. They inspire us to be brave, kind, and honorable in our own lives.

You may not have a suit of armor or a trusty steed, but you have the heart of a modern-day knight. Just remember the lessons of chivalry and let them guide you in your adventures, big and small. You can be a hero in your own way, making the world a better place with your kindness, courage, and honor, just like the knights of yore.

So, young squire, go forth with the spirit of a knight in your heart and make your own heroic mark on the world!

The post Knights of Medieval Europe for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

But let’s leave all that behind.  Not everyone in the middle ages was a king, knight, or royal maiden. Most people– and by that I mean almost everyone– were very, very poor. And it’s a legend passed around by these poor peasants that we’re interested in today. 

So instead of imagining a grand castle with battlements and a drawbridge, let’s venture into the depths of Sherwood forest, where Robin Hood and his companions, the Merry Men, live and plan their raids. But, as you probably know, these are no ordinary criminals. The legendary Robin Hood was an outlaw, but he wasn’t in it to make himself rich. Instead, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His run-ins with the sheriff of Nottingham, his arch-nemesis, bring excitement and danger to the many tales of daring and bravery, while his relationship with the Merry Men and Maid Marion showcases teamwork, friendship, and generosity. 

But was there a real Robin Hood? And why have the legends of this green-clad crusader against injustice stayed so popular for over 700 years? Let’s go a little deeper into Sherwood Forest and see if we can find some answers! 

It turns out, the real Robin Hood is hard to find in those shadowy woods. Historians in the 14th and 15th centuries wrote about him as though he was real, describing a man who lived sometime in the 12th or 13th century. Later stories say he was a loyal supporter of the noble King Richard the Lionheart, and defended the king against Prince John, who seized the throne. But this alliance with King Richard was suggested by a much later writer, who lived in the 18th century, rather than anyone alive closer to the 1190s when he ruled. Also, Richard probably wasn’t as noble as these later Robin Hood legends suggest, and John probably wasn’t as evil. 

But in addition to history books, there were also plenty of songs and plays based on the legendary outlaw by the time the historians began to take notice. May Day festivals often included plays about Robin Hood. But it’s the songs, called ballads, where we find most of the Robin Hood legends we’re so familiar with today. A ballad was a folk song that told a simple story. They were performed by and for common people in many different settings in medieval England: At taverns, public markets, and fairs and festivals. 

Ballads were part of an oral tradition – stories passed around among friends, or from grandparents to grandchildren, generation to generation, over a long time. Ballads just happened to be set to music. Different performers might change things around or add new elements, so they weren’t really “written” by any one person. Most people didn’t know how to read or write in the Middle Ages anyways, so ballads were an important way to keep treasured stories alive. Over time, people forgot which parts were real and which weren’t, and the stories became legends.

At the time, people loved the idea of a hero who stood up against injustice and challenged authorities. Most people in medieval England were, after all. Most of them worked as farmers on land owned by royalty or the church. These people were called serfs, and they weren’t free to just get up and leave to seek a better life elsewhere. They had to farm the same land their parents and grandparents had farmed, for a wealthy baron or the church. But these peasants saw the grand castles and manors that the landowners lived in, the decadent foods they indulged in, and the fine clothes, and compared it to their own meager houses and rough clothes. 

So it’s no wonder Robin Hood became the hero of many a folk ballad, sung by these unfree peasants who worked the land. He strived to even things out, taking from the wealthy and giving the spoils to those who had almost nothing. In some medieval legends, Robin Hood is himself a commoner, a peasant, who goes against the system. In others, he started as one of those noblemen, but after seeing how the poor farmers on his estate lived, decided to devote himself to the cause of making their lives better.

Whatever Robin Hood’s personal history, wealthy, powerful people don’t always want to give up their wealth so that the poor can have a better life. Plus, what hero is complete without a villain? Robin Hood’s most persistent foe in the legends was the Sheriff of Nottingham. A greedy, cunning official, the sheriff had it out for Robin Hood, always devising schemes to capture him and his band of Merry Men. But Robin Hood always outwitted the sheriff, often besting him at his games. In one of the most famous ballads, the sheriff puts on an archery contest, with a silver arrow as the prize. The contest is designed to lure Robin Hood, who has a reputation as a skilled archer, into a trap so the sheriff can arrest him. But Robin disguises himself and wins the contest anyway. In some versions, he even splits another contestant’s arrow right down the middle! Later, he shoots a note–attached to an arrow–into town, boasting to the sheriff about how he had tricked him. 

Another thing every hero needs when he goes up against the bad guys is allies – a band of friends to help him through tough situations and keep his spirits up when things seem hopeless. Robin Hood’s Merry Men filled this role perfectly. Friar Tuck, Little John (said to be seven feet tall!), and Will Scarlett, to name a few, helped Robin with his schemes and disguises. Like Robin himself, we’re not sure whether most of these people were real, but many of them seem to be inspired by real people – mostly outlaws, though not always as charitably inclined as the Merry Men of the ballads!

But the love of Robin’s life was the Maid Marion. Though she’s always in modern movies and books about Robin Hood, she wasn’t in the earliest ballads and legends. But when she shows up in a 17th-century ballad, she makes a strong impression – on Robin as well as audiences! In this story, Marion disguises herself as a boy to search for Robin in the forest. But when she finds Robin, he’s also wearing a disguise, and instead of a happy reunion they get into a fight:

They drew out their swords, and to
cutting they went,
At least an hour or more,
That the blood ran apace from bold
Robins face,
And Marian was wounded sore.

“O hold thy hand, hold thy hand,” said
Robin Hood.
“And thou shalt be one of my string,
To range in the wood with bold Robin
Hood.
And hear the sweet nightingall sing.”

Fortunately, in the end Robin Hood is so impressed by his opponent’s swordsmanship, that he asks to stop the fight (“Hold thy hand”) and offers “him” a spot in his band of Merry Men, saying “be one of my string.” In other stories, Marion has very different roles: sometimes, she’s a noblewoman, sent off to marry the evil Prince John, rival of Robin Hood’s ally King Richard, and Robin must rescue her. In other accounts, she’s equal to any of the Merry Men–fighting alongside the rest of the crew, helping with Robin Hood’s mission to steal from the rich and give to the poor. 

In modern times, Robin Hood hasn’t lost any of his popularity. There have been countless novels, comic books, TV shows and movies about him since the middle ages. Movies range from the swashbuckling 1938 film “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” to the animated Disney version where Robin Hood and Maid Marion are portrayed as adorable foxes. Countless novels have been written over the years focussing not just on Robin Hood himself, but members of his outlaw band and especially Maid Marion. 

Whichever version of Robin Hood you prefer, the legendary outlaw stands for many of our most deeply held values. He’s loyal to his friends, brave in the face of injustice, and kind to those in need. I definitely don’t recommend stealing from anyone, but you can follow Robin’s example in any one of these areas. Even without breaking the law, doing the right thing can be uncomfortable, and doesn’t always make you popular. The world will always need people who are loyal, brave, generous, and kind – people who will do the right thing even if it means getting in trouble now and then.

Sources

https://www.boldoutlaw.com/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Robin-Hood

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/robin-hood

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/medieval-times/european-middle-ages-and-serfdom/a/serfdom-in-europe

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/738/the-adventures-of-robin-hood/#overview

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Close your eyes and imagine you’re in a beautiful forest. It’s late in the evening, and you’ve decided to take a calming walk through the trees. You see a shape moving through the trees ahead, rustling the leaves as it leans down to drink from a pond. The silvery moonlight bounces off its back, which you see is covered in shiny, white fur. Suddenly, the creature raises its head, and you gasp: there’s a horn right on top of its head, pointing directly up at the moon and glowing in the night. The creature gallops away before you can get any closer. You wander home in a daze, wondering if what you saw was real, or if you just dreamed it. 

Unicorns of the Past

Whether you believe in them or not, or like them or not, our history with unicorns goes back a lot farther than you might imagine. In fact, scientists have found fossils that look something like unicorns. Elasmotherium sibiricum lived in Siberia and Kazakhstan up through the last ice age, and had a giant horn on top of its head. Before you get too excited, I should mention that this animal did not look like a white pony with a slender, twisted horn and rainbow mane (sorry). Instead, it looked more like a giant, furry rhinoceros. It was about the size of an elephant: 4 meters long, nearly 2 meters tall, and weighing in at about  4 tons. Scientists used to think this creature went extinct over 300 thousand years ago, but a recent fossil find was dated to be about 29 thousand years old. There were humans wandering around Earth at this time, so maybe they saw these giant creatures. And just maybe, they began telling each other stories about the magnificent horned beasts. We can’t really be certain, but maybe those stories were passed down, and led to our modern idea of unicorns. 

Ancient Stories

But the unicorn would take on many different forms in stories before it came to look like a majestic white horse with a horn. Some of the very first artwork involving unicorns dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished in what is now northwest India and Pakistan over 4,000 years ago. People in the Indus Valley Civilization made seals to stamp on things that belonged to them. These seals usually showed animals and also had mysterious writing on them. It was a bit like a signature. We still can’t read the writing, but many of the seals showed an animal that looked like an ox or an antelope with a single, curved horn in its head. Archeologists have also found small, clay figurines of these animals, with the horn coming up from between the eyes and curving forward. 

Mysterious Creatures

Some scholars think the unicorn creature is based on a real, two-horned type of cattle called an auroch that lived in the area. Others think it was based on a species of antelope. But maybe it was based on a mysterious creature that these people heard about in stories passed down by their grandparents, from their grandparents, and so on, back from a time that no one remembered anymore.

Legends and Unicorns

Many other ancient peoples had legends about unicorn-type creatures. Long after the Indus Valley Civilization had disappeared and been forgotten, stories from ancient India talked about a unicorn-like creature. Other Hindu stories describe boars and elephants with one horn instead of two. The Bible also mentions unicorns several times, depicting them as very strong and clever, but wild creatures. 

Asian History

In China, ancient stories tell of a creature called the qilin. This animal had a coat of multi-colored scales, like a fish; the body and hooves of a deer; the tail of a lion; and of course, a horn. The horn was usually pronged, instead of a single straight spike, and sometimes the qilin was also shown with two horns. The qilin would appear to people right before a wise man or great ruler showed up, foretelling their arrival. Korean and Japanese folklore includes a similar creature, known as a qirin.

Greek and Ancient Authors on Unicorns

Ancient Greek authors also wrote accounts of unicorn-like animals. They probably got the idea from the ones in Indian stories. One author, Ctesias, heard about such a creature from India while he was living in Persia, which is now Iran. He tried to describe it, but he’d never seen it or even talked to someone who had seen it with their own eyes. It ended up sounding like a donkey mixed with a rhinoceros….which he also hadn’t seen. The creature he described had a white body, dark red head and a horn that was white on the bottom, black in the middle, and bright red at the top. 

Many other ancient authors wrote about unicorns as well. They didn’t agree with each other or with modern notions of what unicorns look like. Most described unicorns as having very sharp horns–some say 4 feet! That’s about as tall as a 7 or 8-year-old child! Different writers described them as mashups of various animals. One said they had the body of a horse, legs of an elephant, tail of a pig, and a head of a deer. And of course, the 4-foot horn.

Can You Eat a Unicorn?

Unicorns were supposed to be very fierce and powerful. One author insisted that they let out “horrid roars.” They were said to be impossible to capture alive. But if you killed one while hunting, they were said to taste awful, so you shouldn’t eat them. (Though I doubt most kids these days would even think about it!) 

Still, ancient authors thought they were worth hunting for another reason. They thought the horn had magical properties that would counteract any poison, and you could even cure diseases by drinking from a unicorn-horn cup.  Some authors, including Julius Caesar, claimed that unicorns lived in the forests of Germany, a land that the Romans thought of as mysterious and dark, though they didn’t understand much about it. 

Unicorns in the Middle Ages

It was during the Middle Ages that unicorns started to look like what we’d call a unicorn today: A horse, or sometimes a goat, usually white and with a long, sharp, twisted horn growing up from its head. One person took issue with the new, pretty-white-horse image of unicorns: the medieval explorer Marco Polo. He visited China and saw something he was sure was a unicorn. He tried to set the record straight when he got back to Europe, telling people that real unicorns were gray and almost the size of elephants, had elephant feet, and enjoyed wallowing in mud. 

Can you guess what he really saw? 

Yes, again, he’s confusing a rhinoceros with a unicorn. In the 1400s, rhinos lived in China, but they’re extinct there now.

Much of what we know about what people believed about unicorns in the middle ages comes from a book called the Physiologus. The Physiologus described many wild and mythical animals, including unicorns. It described how they looked, but also how they behaved, and it gave them moral traits, just like humans.  We don’t know who wrote the Physiologus, but it was very popular for hundreds of years and translated into many different languages.  

Unicorns were still said to be fierce, strong, clever, and wild. One story told of a unicorn chasing a lion. The only way the lion survived was by ducking behind a tree at the last moment, so the charging unicorn’s horn got stuck in the tree trunk. But the Physiologus added that unicorns also symbolized purity and grace, and even represented Jesus Christ. There was a story that when a unicorn drank water from a dirty pool, the water would be cleaned and other animals would be able to drink from it too. Just like in ancient Rome, people still thought that unicorn horns could cure you of sickness and counteract poison. People would sell rhinoceros or narwhal horns as “unicorn” horns to people looking to use it as a remedy. Of course, they didn’t work. 

Medieval Artwork

Unicorns are featured in a lot of medieval artwork. People wove elaborate sets of tapestries that told stories in pictures. A unicorn-themed tapestry might show a group of hunters trying to catch a unicorn on the first panel, which we know by now is not easy! 

But, we learn in another panel, these hunters have a secret weapon: a young woman. In the middle ages, people thought that only a young maiden could tame a unicorn. The tapestry would show the maiden sitting with the calm unicorn, his head resting in her lap. 

In some tapestry stories, the woman might lead the unicorn to the king as a gift. In others, the hunters killed or captured the unicorn, while the woman cried, sorry for the part she had played in tricking the beautiful, clever creature. 

But often, in a final panel, the unicorn would be seen galloping away into the woods, as though it could never really be captured, even by trickery. 

Now it’s not hard at all to capture a unicorn, or at least something unicorn-themed. Unicorns are on everything from bed sheets and stuffed animals, to cupcakes and party supplies. They turn up in books and movies, such as My Little Pony and Harry Potter. And sometimes we even call people “unicorns” when they have some unusual combination of traits that almost seem to give them superpowers. 

What do You Think?

What do you think? Where did the legend of the unicorn come from? Did we pass down stories of a strange, prehistoric creature that, over time, morphed into a graceful horse with a slender horn? Did someone see a rhinoceros from far off, or hear a story about one, and just get confused about what it was? Or do hunters and young maidens in the forest late at night sometimes see the outline of a wild horse against the full moon, with a single horn pointing up to the stars, and sense something magical?

Sources

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythic-creatures/land/unicorns-west-and-east

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/unicorns-are-more-legit-than-you-think?utm_source=DamnInteresting

https://thekingsbible.com/Concordance/unicorn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1629/the-unicorn-myth/

Parpola, Asko (2011) ‘The Harappan unicorn in Eurasian and South Asian perspectives.’ Linguistics, Archeology, and the Human Past. Eds. Toshiki Osada & Hitoshi Endo. Indus Project, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. Kyoto, Japan.

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Close your eyes and imagine you are in a beautiful, Japanese garden. You see a small stream leading to a calm pond covered in bright pink flowers and water lilies. The green grass around you is cut short and all of the plants and shrubbery are neatly trimmed. Flowering trees are above you. You see a wooden footbridge and cross the pond to an open area with a grand temple in the middle. It’s designed in Japanese fashion with a peaked roof. Surrounding the temple are men and women holding wooden swords. A teacher is showing them how to use the sword, swinging it upward and then down. They all follow his instructions at the same time in a coordinated dance. Then they kick and swing the swords again. Past them, in the temple, you see a group cross-legged and meditating. You suddenly realize you are observing a group of Japanese samurais in training.

Have you ever heard of a “samurai”? A samurai was an ancient warrior in the country of Japan. You could compare them to the knights of Medieval Times, because they were warriors who wore armor, fought in battles, and lived a code of honor. But they were also different from knights in other ways which we’ll talk about today.

If you saw a samurai today they’d be wearing armor, a helmet, and carrying a long sword called a “katana.” They were known for their great strength and skill and speed and their incredible use of the katana sword. The first Samurai fought on horseback. For a long time, the soldiers in Japan were peasants – simple people who farmed the land and weren’t trained to fight. So when they fought in a battle, they weren’t very effective because their job was normally farming not fighting. At the time in Japan, some of the wealthier citizens had horses and decided they might be better warriors than the peasants. Horses gave them an advantage and using a bow and arrow from the back of the horse, these wealthy Japanese became very dangerous fighters. Soon, instead of peasants fighting, more and more of the soldiers became Samurai, fighting with swords and bow and arrows from horseback.

As the samurai trained harder and from a young age, they became known for their excellent skills with the katana sword. They disciplined themselves. Discipline means to have self-control. Daily they practiced riding horses, using the katana, and doing things that were very hard but made them stronger because they pushed their body and mind to their limits. They were similar to Spartan warriors in this way, too.

Some of the legendary samurai were women, too. Tomoe Gozen fought bravely during the clan wars. She was a skilled archer and swordsman, “a warrior worth a thousand” the legends say. She was a strong horseman and could ride down steep hills. In battle, she was sent out as a captain in the best armor and the best weapons to lead the other samurai – and “performed more deeds of valor than any of the other warriors.” 

Another well known general at this time was female samurai Hangaku Gozen. Female foot soldiers were also known to fight alongside the men during clan wars.

In the Pacific Ocean, Japan is an island located off the coast of China. At the time, a powerful people called the Mongols ruled China and wanted to rule Japan, too. In 1270 A.D. Kublai Khan, the leader of the Mongol army,  decided to attack Japan. He sent 40,000 soldiers and 90 ships to invade the island. But for many years, the Japanese Samurai had been preparing and training to defend their country. When the Mongols invaded, they were met by the fast and powerful Samurai who used their skills to defend Japan and stopped the invasion. 

For a time, Japan was also divided into power clans, or groups of people sort of like small cities or towns. The clans were ruled by a leader called a “daimyo” (dime-yo). The daimyo hired samurai to protect their clan. Often clans fought against each other for more land so many of the samurai battles over the years were between competing clans. Samurai became distinguished for their honor in battle. Honor meant their commitment to the samurai code or set of rules known as the “bushido.” They strictly followed the rules of a samurai or “bushido” which included courage, respect, self-control and righteousness, which means doing the right thing. In battle, the Samurai were taught to never surrender or back down, to continue fighting even when they were losing and to have courage even in the most fearful moments.

In 1582, a man named Oda Nobunaga was born to a powerful daim-yo in the Owari region. Growing up, Nobunaga was trained as other samurai to fight with the bow and arrow, sword, and learned to discipline himself after the “bushido,” the way of the samurai. After his father passed away, Nobunaga and his brothers fought to rule the clan and Nobunaga became the new leader. But he wasn’t content leading one clan, he wanted to grow the clan’s power and began conquering other clans nearby. He was a skilled military leader and organized his soldiers and samurai in a way that continued to win until he ruled many other clans. Nobunaga also made alliances with other powerful clans. An alliance is an agreement that they will work together. And eventually Nobunaga’s clans and alliances brought all of the clans together. Nobunaga eventually became the leader of half the clans in Japan, also called a “shogun.” He built a beautiful castle on a lake and lived there during his rule. From there he continued to organize and strengthen his armies and make laws that he believed were in Japan’s best interest. The rule of a powerful Japanese leader was called a “shogunate” and his rule was followed by powerful leaders such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa. Under Hideyoshi, all of Japan was united under a single leader or “shogunate.” This led the way for a unified Japan up until the single country it is today. 

Back to the samurai – with Japan united, the different clans and their dime-yo leaders no longer fought for control. Because there was peace between clans, the samurai weren’t needed for fighting. Also, gunpowder and guns were introduced to Japan, so the army became made up of regular soldiers and swords were replaced with guns. The samurai became workers for the new Japanese government. They still followed the code of the Samurai but weren’t needed for battle and taught others about the “bushido” code and how to have self-control and respect for others. 

Some of the samurai who didn’t want to become peaceful government workers and who no longer were needed by the clans became leaderless. These wandering samurai became known as “Ronin” (row-nin) who often became bandits or soldiers for hire. In one of the most famous Japanese stories, 47 of these Ronin lost their master after he was murdered. They band together and seek after his murderer until they get revenge. This legendary story was made into plays and later movies and comic books called “47 Ronin.” 

As we’ve mentioned before, the way of the samurai, the special code they followed that made them samurai was called “bushido.” Without bushido, they wouldn’t have had the discipline to train and act with courage during the toughest moments of battle. Even though you aren’t a samurai, you can take the best things from the bushido code and apply them to your own life. As we talk about the principles of bushido, think about how you might use them each day.

The first principle of bushido was rectitude or justice. This meant to act in a way that made sense, was rational, even when it was very hard to do so. Also, to treat others with fairness and honor.

The second principle was courage, which means acting on what is right even when it is hard. A samurai was determined to act even under difficult circumstances. If you’ve ever done something hard, when it wasn’t easy, you’ve demonstrated courage. And courage doesn’t always come easy, it takes practice! Next time something challenging comes your way say to yourself, “I can have courage, I can do it!” With each courageous step you take, it can become easier.

The third principle of bushido was mercy. This means showing love to others and being able to forgive.

Fourth, politeness. To treat others with respect, have good manners, and say kind things. 

Fifth, honesty. We all know what that means. Telling the truth even when it’s not easy.

Sixth, honor. This meant showing personal respect. Respecting yourself and having patience. This means taking a deep breath when you might get upset and finding ways to work through problems by keeping a cool head, rather than getting angry and losing ones temper. 

Seventh, loyalty. To the samurai this loyalty to their leaders, usually the daim-yo. For you, this might mean listening to your parents or sticking up for your family, siblings, and friends, and being there for them when they need your help.

Finally, eighth, self control. One of the most important because it helps with all of the other principles. This means being able to manage your wants. There might be something you really want, but you can ask yourself if you really need it. It’s important to be able to tell the difference between wants and needs. Needs are things you do need, like good food and sleeping each day. Wants might be a toy or watching a movie, which can be fun at times but aren’t really necessary all the time. Next time you want something, but don’t really need it, try saying “no.” And you’ll find each time you strengthen that part of your brain that has self-control. Also, eating healthy and getting good sleep help with self-control. 

Those are the principles of bushido, the way of the samurai. Like I said, think of ways you can incorporate these good teachings and others into your own life to have the strength of a samurai!

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Do you have a piggy bank? Or maybe you have a glass jar in your house full of coins? You’ve probably seen your parents pay for something at the store with dollar bills – or maybe have yourself? Have you seen your parents use a credit card or pay with something using their phone and wonder how it works? How can they use a card or their phone to pay for something without actual coins and bills?? If you have any of these questions, you’re just like me, because I was very curious about how money came to be.

So take your mind back to time of the earliest people on earth. They were probably like you imagine, wearing animal skins and living in tribes, sometimes in caves or in little stick and mud huts they’d built to keep off the cold and rain. When these people needed something they didn’t have, they’d try and figure out how to make it or grow it or hunt for it themselves, but sometimes it was just easier to trade. You’ve probably traded something with a sibling or a friend before, right? I’ll give you this if you give me that. I used to do it with baseball cards. Well, these early humans would do it for things they really needed like blankets made from animal furs. They’d meet with other tribes in the area and make deals. They’d trade. Another word for this is bartering. They’d say “hey, I’ll give you five arrowheads for 3 furs? How does that sound?” The other tribe would would discuss the trade and maybe come back with, “How about six arrowheads for 3 furs?” The first tribe might agree that’s fair and then the deal would be complete and they’d swap items and everyone was happy. 

Way back in 6,000 B.C. the people of Mesopotamia became known for their bartering skills and introduced trade to the Phoenicians. Over time it became more and more popular, but it’s more than likely bartering happened long before the Mesopotamians.

Bartering worked well down through history and people even do it today, but over time humans began to see the problems with bartering and began to think of other ways to “trade” goods. What if instead of trading things like arrowheads and furs directly, we can use a different object to make the deal happen. The problem with bartering is you had to move the thing you wanted to trade all over the place. So if I wanted to trade with a tribe all the way across the valley, I’d have to load all of my goods in a cart or a horse or a wagon and haul them there. Kind of a pain, right? Also, what if we couldn’t agree on arrowheads for furs and 3 ½ arrowheads made more sense than 4. You can’t break an arrowhead in half, then it wouldn’t be any good. 

So ancient people came up with the idea to use valuable objects IN PLACE of goods. One of the early examples of what became money were shells. This is also called currency, a way to use one object to exchange for other objects. In China around 1,000 B.C. Asians began using a special type of shell called a Cowrie shell in exchange for other goods. So for example, I’d go to the market with a beautiful new dress I’d woven. There, a store owner might offer me 10 cowrie shells for the dress. They’d give me the cowrie shells, I’d give them the dress, and now I have shells, which are the equal value of the dress in my pocket. A lot easier to carry around than the dress. And then I can keep the shells, maybe go to another market later that week, and use the cowrie shells to buy my family wheat and rice for the rest of the month. Cowrie shells became a very popular form of money in China and spread throughout the region, including Africa .

Shell money was common in other places, too, like Australia, the Middle East, and North America. In North American indigenous people of the Iroquois Confederacy and Algonquin tribes, took shells they found in the ocean and ground them into beads called wampum. These white and purple beads were then strung into necklaces that could be used as money to exchange for other items. Soon European settlers also used wampum as money and it was used in the exchange for beaver pelts which were a very popular item at the time. 

So you’re probably wondering why we’re still not using cowrie shells and wampum beads today? Well, that’s because once groups of people realized how money could be used some groups started creating their own money out of hard metals. Civilizations like those in China who worked in metals were able to create the first money out of gold, silver, bronze and other precious metals. This is called minting. What’s funny is some of this first metal money was shaped like cowry shells, their favorite money system of the past. They also stamped these early coins with a symbol to show that it was made by their people. This is important because a value is attached to money that sort of has to be agreed upon by everyone using it. And the value of money can change over time! We’ll talk about that in a few minutes. So with China minting money and creating coins, the really cool thing is that trade moved faster. People that have access to money, can exchange things easier, and the money moves throughout the empire and everyone is more prosperous because of it. Also, around this time metal coins were especially important because long trade roads were forming between Asia and Europe such as the famous Silk Road. Europeans and Asians traded goods along these roads and also by water.

Around this time, the Greeks also learned about minting money and started minting their own. The Athenians were minting their own silver coins by 500 B.C. and this practice later spread to the Roman Empire. Over time, minting became more and more common and as you know it’s in use by the United States and countries all over the world who have their own mints and their own coins. Growing up, I loved collecting coins with different dates and pictures on them and sometimes coins from other countries. I always thought it was interesting why they decided to put certain symbols and words on each of their own coins. 

Paper money also was first invented by the Chinese, since they were also the first inventors of paper. Over time, paper money became easier to carry around than heavy metal coins. Imagine if you had to carry $100 worth of coins with you every time you went grocery shopping. Imagine $1,000 if you had to buy a bigger item. Paper money was also used by Charlemagne during his reign in Europe and of course is in use today with the dollar bill in the United States and each country with their unique bills. Do you know the names of money in different countries? Maybe you know a few. I’ll list some of the ones I know. The British Pound, the European Euro, the Japanese Yen, the Indian Rupee, Mexico’s peso, the Russian ruble. So If you get a chance be sure to look up these different currencies and what they look like. Sometimes you can even find them at hobby shops nearby.

You’ll notice with currency in different countries, they also differ in value. So 1 U.S. dollar is equal to about 113 Japanese yen. This value changes over time. The dollar today can buy less than it could 50 years ago. For example, in 1970 the cost of a candy bar was 10 cents! Just ten pennies! Today the cost of a candy bar is more like 1 or 2 dollars. 

In modern times, countries are very careful with how they mint money. This is because counterfeiting is a widespread crime. Counterfeiting is when people try and make fake money and use it. This problem has existed for a very long time going back even 1500 years ago. People would mix other metals with gold or silver to make it appear that a coin was made of that metal. Today, counterfeiters use complex designs and machines to make paper bills that look like the real ones. If you hold bills up to the light and look closely at them, especially the big ones like a $20 or $100 dollar bill, you’ll notice complex watermarks inside the bills and strips of paper that are hard to duplicate. Whenever new money is printed the United States Treasury is trying to develop new ways to outsmart counterfeiters. And counterfeiters do the same, so it’s a never ending game of cat and mouse to keep money safe.   

To get an idea of how much new money is printed every year in 2020, the United States Treasury printed over 1 million $100 dollar bills and around 2 and a half billion $1 dollar bills. 

In the modern day, new modes of money have become popular. You’ve probably seen your parents swipe a credit card at the store or type in the numbers when buying something online. The first credit cards became available in the 1950s and grew in popularity over the years. What can be hard to understand, is that you can spend money on credit cards that you don’t even have yet. It’s what is called a loan. You spend a certain amount of money that the credit card company lets you borrow, and then you pay it off. Credit cards are a nice convenience but people also have to be careful not to spend too much on a credit card, because if you can’t pay it off by the next month it can cost you even more money.

Digital payments have also become very popular. This means that rather than having dollar bills or coins in your pocket, you can use your computer or phone to pay for things. All of the money spent using computers is tracked on a bank’s computer. It’s kind of hard to imagine that things are bought and sold and just tracked on computers now, but it is very convenient not to have to worry about having actual money in your wallet. For example, when I get paid by my job, the money just shows up in my bank account. And then I pay bills using my bank account and it just sends the transactions to pay for my house and my car and my electricity bill. And when people donate to Bedtime History, I get an email and then can use that to pay for expenses for the podcast. Pretty crazy, right? Using services like PayPal, Venmo, and Apple Payments, now you just bring up an app on your phone and send people and businesses money that way. It’s definitely revolutionized the way money can be used.

The last really interesting new form of money in the modern age I want to talk about is called cryptocurrency. If you’ve ever heard of Bitcoin, it’s the first cryptocurrency. The cool thing about cryptocurrencies is they aren’t managed by a government or bank like all of the other money. They live on the Internet and can be used by people all over the world, regardless of where they live. Cryptocurrency, also called “crypto” for short, started in 2008, when someone on the Internet using the fake name Satoshi Nakamoto wrote a paper about how crypto could work. Crypt uses a technology called a blockchain that keeps track of every payment (also called a transaction) made using Bitcoin. The blockchain is highly secure and anonymous, which means no one can hack into it and see who is using the money and what they are doing with it. It’s become an entirely new kind of money. When the first Bitcoin was released it was worth a few cents, but now it’s worth over $35,000 dollars. Of course, its value rises and falls and there are other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and there is debate over how important crypto will be in the future.

It’s pretty crazy to think back about how money started out, at basic trading or bartering for goods and where it is now, with complex digital payments systems and cryptocurrencies. The world has changed so much in the last few thousand years and one of the reasons I love history. To try and better understand where we are and how we got here. The world is a vibrant and rapidly changing place and knowing it’s history can help us better know how the world and people work and also what we can do to make it a better place. I hope you enjoyed learning about the history of money like I did! 

The post History of Money, Bartering, and Cryptocurrency for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Take a minute to imagine that you have traveled with your family to Italy.  You visit a popular tourist spot to check out one of the most famous buildings in the world: the leaning Tower of Pisa.  As you approach the tower, you can see that it is leaning over at a strange tilt.  How is this tower even standing?  It has white pillars and arches.  It leans at an angle that is scary, but you can see that it is held up by large metal wires pulling against its weight.  Your family decides that they are going to go inside to explore. It sounds a little risky to go inside a leaning tower.  Will you go inside too?

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous buildings in the world.  It is a freestanding bell tower in the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa.  A cathedral means a church that has a section where a religious leader, a bishop, lives inside.  The tower is known around the world for its strong lean.  The tower leans at an angle of four-degrees.  The lean is due to a foundation that is not stable.  This means that the base of the tower that holds the tower up is likely to fall.

The Tower of Pisa is 183 feet from the ground on the low side and 186 feet on the high side.  It has 295 steps to the top level. 

The Tower first began to lean during the time it was built in the 12th century.  This happened because the ground that the Tower was built on was soft and could not properly support the weight of the huge tower. Throughout the building of the tower, the leaning only got worse. Oops! And it continued to lean more over the next few hundred years. By 1990, the tilt had reached 5 ½ degrees!  This was so far over that the Italian government decided to add extra support beams to help stabilize the tower.  Their work was successful and after 8 years of extra work the tilt of the building was reduced to 4 degrees. 

There is some mystery around who designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  For many years, people thought that the architect was a man named Bonanno Pisano.  This was based on a piece of metal found in the earth at the base of the tower.  But later scientists concluded that a different man named Diotisalvi was that actual architect and that Pisano likely just made the door frame.  This was due to the fact that the tower is very similar to at least two other buildings that Diotisalvi designed in Pisa. 

The Tower of Pisa was built in three stages over almost 200 years. In the year 1172, a woman named Donna Berta di Bernardo inherited a large sum of money from her husband.  She gave some of this money to the local Opera house in Pisa and she used the rest towards buying a few stones that are still part of the base of the bell tower.

One year later, the government had enough money to hire a crew of workers to continue to build the tower.  The government had more money than in recent years due to the fact that the army had successfully taken over some additional areas.  The crews started by building the foundations of the tower.  Later that year, they laid the ground floor of the tower with white marble. This ground floor has a “blind arcade”.  This means that the bottom had columns with classical looking arches but the other side of the arches have no actual openings.  Instead, it is just a hard surface of a wall with arches that are decorative, or there to make it look nice.  

The arches also aren’t “load-bearing”.  This means that they do not support the weight of the structure. 

About 400 years later, a man named Giorgio Vasari wrote that Guglielma together with sculptor Bonanno laid the foundation, or base, of the bell tower in the tower of Pisa.

The tower began to sink after construction had progressed to the second floor in 1178. The reason was because the foundation was not built to be high enough.  It was only three-metres high, which was very low for a tower of that height.  

Unfortunately, the tower was set in weak, unstable soil or dirt.  This was a problem that was there right from the beginning. Because the tower started to sink, the people who were building the tower stopped construction.  The tower then sat there for almost 100 years with nothing being done.  The country that the tower was in was called the Republic of Pisa. The Republic was almost constantly battling with the neighbouring countries of Genoa, Lucca and Florence. 

The 100 years that the tower sat there was actually a good thing.  This allowed time for the soil underneath the tower to settle, or become more stable. If the original construction crew had carried on building the tower, the tower would have almost definitely fallen over.

In the year 1233, a father and son started to do further construction work on the tower to try to finish it.  They eventually had to pass the project on to another builder and then yet another took over.  

In 1264, the tower construction had finally moved along far enough that the main architect at the time, hired 23 workers to go into the mountains close to Pisa and cut marble. After the marble was cut out of the mountain, they used it on the tower. In order to compensate, or counter-balance, for the tilt, the designers build the upper floors of the tower with one side taller than the other.  For this reason, the tower is actually curved today.  

The seventh floor was finished in 1319 and then the bell-chamber was finally added in the year 1372.  The bell-chamber, or room holding the bell, was built by a man named Tommaso di Andrea Pisano. He used Gothic elements and a Romanesque style of the tower. These are different historic styles of buildings that were popular at different times in Europe’s history. There are seven bells in the bell-chamber, one for each note of the musical major scale.  

After the tower of Pisa was finished, the tower was admired by many people and has had some famous visitors.  A famous astronomer _______ dropped cannonballs off of the tower to show the law of free fall, a famous law in physics.  Physics is the study of matter and motion, or things and movement. 

During World War 2, the Allies, Americans and English, thought that the Germans were using the tower of Pisa as a watch post. A U.S. Army sergeant was sent to find out if German troops were in the tower.  He was so impressed by the beauty of the tower, that even though he found that there were Germans in there he held back on ordering an air attack to save the tower from being destroyed.

There have been many attempts to restore the tower to a straight, standing, position or at least keep it from falling over. Unfortunately, most of these efforts failed.  And some of these attempts even made the tower worse.  

In 1964, the Italian government raised money to restore the tower again and stop it from falling over.  The government wanted it to become more stable, but it still wanted the tower to have a tilt. They realized that the tilt was what made it famous! It helped attract tourists, or visitors from other places, to visit Pisa, so why fix it?

The Tower was closed to visitors in January 1990 due to the collapse of another tower nearby.  The collapse scared the Italian government that the same things might happen to the tower of Pisa.  They removed the bells to take some of the weight out of the towers.  They also cinched cables around the third level of the tower and anchored the cables hundreds of metres away. People who lived in home nearby were told to leave to make sure they wouldn’t be hurt if the tower fell over. 

In 1993, the Italian government added almost 900 tonnes of lead counterweights, or weights on the other side of the tower to counter-balance the weight of the leaning side.  This helped straighten the tower a bit. They also removed soil underneath the raised side of the tower to help prevent the collapse of the tower. This helped to make the tilt of the tower a safer angle. This method worked!   The tower’s tilt was reduced by almost 18 inches, returning to its 1838 position. 

Finally, after 10 years of work to rebuild the tower and make it more stable, the tower was re-opened to the public in December 2001.  The government declared that it was now stable for at least another 200 years.  

Would you like to visit the leaning tower of Pisa one day?  If you do visit, would you brave enough to go inside?

The post History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a king? Would it be an easy life for a hard one? Would you just do whatever you please, or would you work to make your kingdom a better place for the people living in it? Today we’re going to learn about Charlemagne, one of the most powerful kings of Europe. 

Charlemagne was born around the year 742 C.E. He lived during what is known as medieval times. Think of castles and knights and ladies. That is the medieval times. Charlemagne was a Frank. The Franks were a Germanic people who lived in what is now known as Belgium, France, Luxemborg, the Netherlands and Germany. The Franks became very powerful at the time the Roman Empire was losing power.  France is named after the Franks. 

Charlemagne’s father was Pepin the Short who was the king of the Franks. Pepin led the Franks in war and won many battles. His kingdom grew as he won battles for his people. This made him and his family very powerful. Very little is known about Charlemagne’s childhood to this day, but it is known that he grew tall and strong, he had light hair, and was good at learning languages. He became a powerful warrior and later in battle carried a large sword with a gold hilt, which he named Jway-uze.

When Charlemagne’s father died in 768, his kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, who didn’t get along very well. But once his brother died, Charlemagne became the only ruler of the kingdom. He was also known as Charles the Great, which is what Charlemagne translates to. 

As king, Charlemagne’s main goal was to unite all of the people of his kingdom under one rule and one religion, which was Christianity. Charlemagne was a skilled military leader and used his talents and his army to bring other people under his rule. Over the years he fought in 53 military campaigns to enlarge his kingdom. The people he fought included the Avars (what is now Austria and Hungary), the Lombards (what is now Italy) and Bavaria, along with other peoples. One of his most difficult opponents were the Saxons, the people of what is now Germany. They wanted to be free and control their own lands, not be part of Charlemagne’s kingdom. They resisted him fiercely, but Charlemagne was determined to bring them under his rule, even though it required a great deal of violence and cruelty. Charlemagne was known for doing whatever it took to reach his goals of growing his kingdom. Even if it meant hurting others. But whenever Charlemagne conquered the Saxons in one place, they’d start fighting him in another place. It took him over 30 years to finally bring the Saxon’s under his rule, they were a very independence people. Because Charlemagne was Christian, anyone forced into his kingdom was required to adopt the his religion as well. Charlemagne also fought very hard to take control of Italy, which finally ended in 777 C.E.

Charlemagne had a very large family! It was very important to him that his children became educated. At the time only monks knew how to read and write, but Charlemagne believe it was important for kings and their families to be educated. This was very out of the ordinary for his day. He loved books and often had someone read to him while he was eating. Even though he was a kind and very rich, he dressed very simply and ate simple food. He believed this made him stronger. He also saw how many kings became rich and then became lazy, spending all of their time enjoying their money, good food, big castles, and nice clothes. Instead, Charlemagne focused on staying strong and smart. He built libraries in his homes and stayed active. He also made sure his children didn’t grow lazy with all of their wealth. He hired tutors to make sure his many children learned how to read and studied good books. 

Charlemagne once said to his sons, “You think because you are rich and are the sons of the great men of my kingdom that your birth and wealth will protect you in my favor. I will let you know that you stand in need of learning more than those who are poor and dependent. You think only of your pleasures and of your dress and play, but I attach no importance to your wealth and to your station, and if you idle your time when you are young you will be worthless when you are old.”

During the time of Charlemagne’s reign, the Christian church based in Rome was concerned about being taken over by its enemies. Because Charlemagne was Christian, he gave much of his money to support the church in Rome. The leader of the church in Rome was called the Pope, and at the time his name was Pope Leo III. In order to create a strong alliance between Rome and Charlemagne, so he could protect them, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans in 800 C.E. on Christmas Day at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This gave people and leaders throughout Rome even greater respect for Charlemagne. 

After taking control of much of Europe, and even though he did it in a very violent way, Charlemagne did a good job at taking care of the lands he had conquered. He allowed people to keep most of their laws and customs and let them rule themselves. Because he believed in education, he had schools built and used his money to pay for teachers. He also pushed for schools to use an alphabet that was the same, so people could communicate better within his big empire. 

He also wanted the economy to be strong in his empire. An economy relates to how people buy and sell things. He worked to have common money used throughout his empire, to make it easier for people to buy and sell goods. He ordered the construction of a great canal, the Fossa Carolina, to connect the Rhine and Danube Rivers. A canal is a man-made river. The uniting of these lands and the result of his reforms are called the Carolingian Renaissance. He also became known as the “Father of Europe.”

Charlemagne often moved throughout his empire, living in different lands in order to help govern them and push his reforms. He was also known to be very athletic. He liked hunting, horseback riding, and swimming. 

Because of his activity, Charlemagne was known to be very healthy most of his life, but during the last four years he had fevers and started to limp. In 813, he crowned his son Louis the Pious as a co-emperor. In 814 when Charlemagne died Louis became the emperor. He was buried in a cathedral in Aachen, ending a reign of more than 40 years. It is incredible to think of all that was accomplished during his reign. 

Like many people in history, Charlemagne’s character is a complicated one. Like many military leaders like Julius Caesar or Napolean, he was very driven by power to conquer all of Europe. This led him to do many terrible things and attack people who just wanted to be left alone. When Charlemagne did finally conquer, he did his best to make his kingdom a good one.

Thanks for listening to this episode about Charlemagne. We also have a video on YouTube about Charlemagne if you want to check it out. Thanks again and be sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode!

The post The History of Charlemagne for Kids appeared first on Bedtime History: Podcast and Videos For Kids.

Around 1,200 years ago many tribes lived in the Scandinavian region of Europe. Scandinavia is now made up of countries such as Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Greenland. The people living there became known as Norsemen or “North-men” and were also called “Vikings.” Because it was so far north, the region they lived in was often very cold, so they were very tough and hardy people. They had to survive the freezing cold winters. To do this they hunted animals and wore their furs. They built long, narrow houses built out of wood, and coated them in earth and grass with thatched roofs. Some of these “long houses” were up to 250 feet long and large families lived in them together. For example if you were a viking you might live in the same house not only with your family but your cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. 

At night families gathered around a big fireplace called a “hearth”, and told stories about their gods such as Odin, the leader of Asgard and his wife Frigg. Their children were Balder, Loki and Thor. Loki was a trickster and often his jokes went too far and he was punished for them. Thor was the god of thunder and fought giants in the sky with his powerful hammer, mjolnir. When he fought these battles it caused lightning and thunder in the sky. Freya was the goddess of love, beauty and war. Each god had their own story of adventure that families shared from generation to generation. The Vikings also sang, danced and played board games around the fire to get them through the long, dark winters.

During the warmer months, the Vikings farmed the land and tended sheep and other animals. But they also became very good sailors and navigators. They learned how to follow the sun and stars and color of the ocean and movement of sea life to know their position in the ocean. Their long ships were made of strong wood and could sail in deep oceans or shallow streams. They used the ocean to discover new lands and often sailed very far and wide to trade goods such as furs, timber and ivory. 

Some groups of Vikings decided that rather than trading they would steal from other tribes. They were known for finding a village along the ocean, running the people out and taking all of their food and valuables, similar to pirates. Vikings were skilled warriors. In battle they used large, round shields, spears, and axes to fight their enemies. One of their best tactics involved interlocking their shields to create a “shield wall.” Because of their skills in battle, the Vikings were able to conquer land very far into Europe.

They became feared far and wide. While not all vikings were aggressive and behaved as pirates, stories were told about them through the ages and one reason most people today assume that all Vikings behaved like pirates.  

Many vikings chose to trade with other tribes and often settled the new lands when the climate and soil was right for farming. They settled new places like Iceland and Greenland. During the Viking Age, many of the tribes moved all the way into England and modern day Russia. 

One of the norsemen who settled Greenland was named Erik the Red. He got his name from his red hair and red beard and his hot temper. Erik’s wife was name JODE-hiled and they had three sons: Thorvald, Leif and Thorstein, and a sister named Freydis. Greenland was extremely cold and not good for farming. But Erik the Red and his family were able to hunt animals such as reindeer and do some basic farming to survive. The work of clearing the land of trees and farming was very hard, but these hardships are what made Erik the Red and his family strong. 

Eventually, Erik and his people found a better place to live in Greenland where Erik’s son Leif grew up. His full name was Leif Erikson, since he was Eric’s son. Because Erik the Red was so busy as chief, Leif was raised by a friend of their family named Tyrkir. Tyrkir taught Leif how to hunt with a bow, trap animals to eat, and fish with a hook and net. He also taught Leif how to sail a boat and navigate at sea. These were all very important skills as a Viking.

Over time and with lots of practice, Leif learned all of the skills he needed to survive on his own and eventually left his family to make a life for himself. One of the first things he did was sail to the islands off the coast of Scotland where he met a woman named Thorgunna. They were married and had a son named Thorgils. 

Like all great vikings and his father, Leif wanted to explore the world outside of his homeland and discover new lands. Stories had been told about a land west across the ocean from Greenland and Europe. Leif was curious whether he and his people could live there, so he made up his mind to venture out and see for himself. Leif gathered a crew of 34 vikings and set off across the ocean on their sturdy long boats. After many days of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean they spotted land! They rowed ashore but the land was flat and rocky and not good for farming. This place wouldn’t be good for a settlement, but Leif had discovered North America! This is the first time Europeans reached the New World in what is now known as Canada, a few hundred years before Christopher Columbus! 

Leif and his crew decided to continue to sail south and eventually found a land that was wooded and green. He named this place Markland, but decided to keep on going, looking for better land. They sailed down a river and to a lake with fresh water and that was full of fish. They anchored their boats, rowed ashore, and set up camp so they could learn more about this new place. One day they hiked further inland and found a vineyard and grapes. For this reason, Leif decided to name the new land Vineland (veen-land), and what is now modern day Canada. After this, Leif and his crew packed up and sailed back to Greenland to let his people know about the new land they had discovered. 

Not long afterward, Leif’s father, Erik the Red, passed away and Leif became the new chief. He ruled his people for 20 years. Interestingly, he never returned to Vineland. But his brother Thorvald Erickson and his sisters did. They sailed to Vineland, picked more grapes and cut down trees to take home. They explored further down the coast, but to their surprise other people were already living there! These native people had likely lived in the New World for thousands of years. Instead of trying to make friends or communicate with these people, who they called the Skraelings, Thorvald and the other Vikings attacked them. The Skraelings who survived the attack ran back to their village and soon returned with other warriors. When Thorvald and the Vikings saw the Skraelings caming after them they turned and ran. The Skraelings fired their bows and Thorvald was hit with an arrow and did not survive. The Vikings stayed in Vineland two more seasons and buried Thorvald there, but eventually returned to Greenland. 

Later, Thorvald’s brother, Thorstein returned to Vineland and later their sister, Freydis. At one point they brought 130 Vikings with them and again tried to settle the land in North America. But the Native American people who already lived there outnumbered them and did not want them there. They often attacked the Vikings. The Vikings knew that they were outnumbered and that they would have to leave. Staying would be too dangerous. Later, Vikings would occasionally return to Vineland to cut down trees for building in Greenland, but they would never stay permanently. 

Later, Leif Erickson would go down in history as the first explorer to reach the New World, 400 years before Christopher Columbus. In the United States in 1964 October 9 officially became Leif Erickson Day. Down through history, the vikings are often associated with their pirate-like attacks, but many of these norToday, many people across the world trace their roots back to Scandinavia, the land of the Vikings. Many of these descendants now live in the American Midwest. You may have heard about a football team, the Minnesota Vikings, who are named after their ancestors. 

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Have you ever played the game “Telephone”? You start with a group of people, and the first person whispers a phrase in the next person’s ear. That person then repeats what they heard in the ear of the other person next to them, and it continues like that until it goes around the whole circle. The person at the end then tells what it was they heard. It is always quite different from what was originally said, and it is so funny! Today we are going to learn about a legend. A legend is like a game of telephone! A legend is a story that has been told for a really long time and has parts that are probably true, but it has changed over time. And by the time we hear about it, we aren’t really sure where the true parts end and where the extra things that have been added to it begin. Even though we aren’t sure what is true and what isn’t, legends are still fun to learn about because it still is history! Just more of story from history.

What was the Legend of King Arthur?

One of the most famous legends to ever come out of the country of England is the legend of King Arthur. People first started talking about him in books during the 9^th century, with stories starting to be written about him in the 12^th century. That means people have been talking about Arthur for over 1,200 years! That’s a really long time! And during that time, there have been hundreds of stories written about him. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote the very first. Other famous authors to write about him include Thomas Mallory (Le Morte D’Arthur), T. H. White (The Once and Future King), Mark Twain (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court), and Howard Pyle -who also wrote Robin Hood! Alfred Lord Tennyson visited Tintagel (which we will talk about later) twice and wrote a series of poems about King Arthur from the inspiration he got there. There have also been movies and tv shows about him as well, the most well-known being The Sword in the Stone by Disney.

Origin of King Arthur

One thing about legends is there are lots of different versions, so there are lots of different versions of King Arthur too! But here is the main story: Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon, and as a baby, he was given to Merlin to be kept safe and taught. When he was a young teenager, he pulled a sword from a stone which proved that he was the rightful king. Later on, he receives another sword named Excalibur from the Lady in the Lake. When Arthur grew up, he took his place as king of the Britons. The Britons were (the ancient people that lived in England or Britain) The wizard  Merlin was his advisor. Arthur married Guinevere and lived in Camelot. He and his knights became known as the Order of the Round Table. Some of them were Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Perceval. Eventually, Mordred, King Arthur’s nephew, rebelled against his uncle and badly wounded Arthur in battle. His body was taken to Avalon to be healed, and according to legend, sometime in the future he will return and rule again.

What was the Sword in the Stone?

There are a few very important episodes in the King Arthur legend: the first one is the Sword in the Stone. The Sword in the Stone was kind of like a prophecy, it said “Whoso pulleth out this sword out of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born.” It was prophesied by Merlin. Many strong and powerful nobles had tried pulling the sword out of the stone, but all had failed. Arthur was able to pull the sword out  even though he was just a boy where so many others had failed. The other important part of the story is about the round table. The special thing about the shape is that it is round, so it doesn’t have a head, which means no one is in a position of power! King Arthur valued all of his knights’ opinions and wanted to hear them as much as he wanted to be heard, it showed that they were all equal. People think that it was Arthur’s father, Uther, who was the original owner of the table. But Arthur eventually inherited it and is the one who actually made it famous. Arthur’s knights were a symbol of chivalry and because of this, the Round Table came to represent chivalry as well. If you followed the code of chivalry, it meant that you believed in things like bravery, courtesy, honor, and great respect toward women.

Was Arthur based on a real person?

There are some people that believe that Arthur was based on a real person who lived during the 400s or 500s AD in Britain. These historians believe that he was Celtic and led his people against the invading Saxons. The Celts were a group of people that lived in Britain and the Saxons were people that were from what is now Germany and the Netherlands. They invaded Britain many times, which is why they would have loved a leader standing up to the Saxons. It is believed that this historical Arthur was the hero of a battle named Battle of Badon Hill. He was eventually killed in battle and his people ran to Brittany (now part of France) and Wales for safety. What makes people think Arthur could be real is that the very first person to write about Arthur was a Welsh monk named Neenius, which makes sense if Arthur’s people really went to Wales.

There is a castle ruin in Cornwall, England that is supposedly the birthplace of King Arthur. It was a stronghold called Tintagel. It is right on the ocean, and it was there long before Arthur would have been born. Because of the legend surrounding Tintagel, in the 1230s the Earl of Cornwall built a castle there. It is a beautiful and mysterious place that has sparked the imagination of many authors who have visited there. 

We probably will never know how much of the King Arthur legend is true and how much is simply a very old story, but one thing is certain, King Arthur has captured the imaginations of people young and old for over 1,000 years- and will continue to do so. What stories capture your imagination and why? How would you feel if a story about you (or a story you wrote) was talked about for hundreds and hundreds of years? What would you say? Would you live your life differently?

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Tonight our story takes place in the Medieval Times, also called the Middle Ages. This was the time of kings and castles and knights and battles over kingdoms. It was also a time when many people had very little to eat and had to work very hard. In the country of France, one of these poor families had a daughter named Joan. Joan worked every day to take care of the animals on their farm and sew and do other things to help the family survive. Young Joan was also very kind and always thinking about others. When others were sick she would visit them and bring them food to help them feel better. She was unselfish. Being unselfish is when you think about others more than yourself.  

At this time there was a war going on between Joan’s country France and another country England, which controlled parts of France. From a young age, Joan began to feel that she was called to help the people of France be free again. She began to tell her family and other people in her village about her strong beliefs. Soon other villages heard what Joan was saying about freedom and they believed her. She decided to go to the king of France and tell him what she believed. At first, the king didn’t want to listen to her but she was persistent. Persistence is when you keep doing something even when it is hard. When the king finally listened to her message of hope, he decided to let her go to battle. They dressed her in armor and put her on an armored horse and sent her off with the other soldiers.

Joan goes to battle

During the battle, Joan carried a large flag. When the other soldiers saw Joan’s flag it gave them hope, because they knew it was being carried by the brave young girl who believed France could again be free. Seeing Joan and her flag made them strong and they won battles whenever Joan was there. Joan had courage. Courage is when you do something even though it may be scary or hard.

During one particularly dangerous battle, they had to ride boats past the enemy guns. The wind was weak that day so they were going very slowly. The soldiers started to wonder if they would survive and began to panic. Joan stayed positive and spoke to them, encouraging them, and reassuring them that it would be alright. Soon the winds picked up and they sailed past the enemy guns without getting hit.

Later during the battle, the captains attacked, but the army was not doing well. Joan heard what was happening and knew they needed her help. She jumped onto her horse and galloped to the front of the battle. There she saw many soldiers who were hurt. She had sympathy for them. Sympathy is when you feel bad for someone and want to help. Joan rode her horse into the battle and the soldiers began to cheer. They fought harder and eventually won the battle. Joan saw the enemy soldiers who had been hurt and tried to help them feel better. She didn’t like seeing people hurt on both sides, even though they were the enemy.  

Joan continues to stands up for her beliefs

Through many other battles, Joan gave the soldiers hope. Eventually, there was peace between France and England. Later Joan was captured and put in jail for a time, but no matter what happened to her, she stood up for her beliefs. There may be times in life when others will laugh at you or say mean things because of what you believe in, but like Joan, you can ignore them and stand strong anyway. This is called having conviction.

Like Joan, you can be unselfish by thinking about others instead of yourself. You can be brave and have courage when things are scary or hard.

Next time you go to the doctor or take a test, think of how Joan went into battle and did hard things even when they weren’t easy.  

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