Every Picture Tells  a Story

Welcome, you have arrived at the second unit of the Whitchurch History department personalised learning curriculum. We are in medieval Britain some time before the Battle of Hastings. As you can see the theme for this unit is 'Every Picture Tells a Story' and we are going to look at the ways in which pictures can help us understand about the past.

The picture that we are going to focus on for the next few weeks is the Bayeux Tapestry. This is one of the most famous pictures in our history and tells us a lot about life in medieval Britain and what happened at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

In this first lesson we will set the scene and look at a few pictures which will set us off on our journey into the middle ages.

[1] Let's look at what the Bayeux Tapestry is and what story it tells. As you watch this brief video  write down your impressions of what you see. Bayeux Tapestry video. Look at the commentary at the top of the video and see if you can understand what is going on. Recording sheet

Write down all the things you can see and what questions you would like to ask about this video

[2] The Bayeux Mystery - The Bayeux Tapestry tells a story. In fact there are lots of stories in the picture. The first thing we are going to investigate is still a mystery.  Now look at this picture here ISM. Go up to the screen and look at the picture closely. It shows the death of a King in a battle. On a sheet of paper describe everything you see in this picture. The words in the picture are in Latin and are translated above the picture. Which one is the king? How was he killed? What else can you see in the picture? What else does this tell us about life in Medieval Britain?

[3] Finally you have been given some sheets with scenes from the Bayeux tapestry and a sheet with some phrases. Cut and paste these phrases onto the picture so that create your own Bayeux Tapestry. Colour this picture.