Medieval literature

So in continuation of an older post, in which I discussed a few books about the Middle Ages for middle schoolers, I thought I'd talk about some literature selections about the same, for the same. I don't feel it necessary to ALWAYS correspond EVERYTHING we read to our particular time period, but often times there is key literature that I wouldn't want to miss.

The Legends of King Arthur are just such. Whether you believe in a historical Arthur or not, the legends surrounding him and his noble knights have for centuries represented western civilization's ideals of integrity, bravery, and virtue. Furthermore, any well written version of the tales will raise important issues for discussion; topics like the responsibility of the rulers toward the ruled and the consequences of sin. As with Greek mythology, a familiarity with  the stories brings greater depth of understanding to almost anything else you will read in the English language.

And like Greek mythology, translations and retellings of Arthurian legends abound. It is not the intention of this post (or any future one, likely) to try to cover or compare all of them, but I will discuss the three I am most familiar with, in the hopes that I might be helpful to someone.

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green - of the three I've listed, this is probably the most accessible, easy to read version. Twenty-two chapters beginning with the boy Arthur pulling forth the sword from the stone, and ending in the culmination of events which the death of King Arthur brought about. 

The Story of King Arthur and his Knights by Howard Pyle- I absolutely love Pyle's storytelling, and the beautiful ways in which he uses language. Here is an excerpt we recently came across:

For when a man is king among men, as was King Arthur, then he is of such a calm and equal temper that neither victory nor defeat may cause him to become either unduly exalted in his own opinion or so troubled in spirit as to be altogether cast down into despair....Yea, he who is a true king of men, will not say to himself, "Lo! I am worthy to be crowned with laurels;" but rather will he say to himself, "What more is there that I may do to make the world better because if my endeavors?"    

It may be helpful to note that Pyle's book does not cover the fall of Camelot or Arthur's death.

The Age of Chivalry by Thomas Bulfinch - This would be a good option for the child who is a strong reader or that has a keen interest in Arthurian legends. There is easily enough material in Bulfinch's version to constitute an entire (school) year's worth of readings.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I will cover Chaucer and Ivanhoe, and possibly Shakespeare! And tell me, what is your experience with King Arthur? Are you a Sir Thomas Malory aficionado, or is it Disney's Sword in the the Stone all the way?

Also, check out my new Instagram account (and follow me!), @BiblioBites, where I will be posting pics and thoughts about some of my favorite books on a (near) daily basis!

Renaissance & Reformation History

I've been deep in planning mode for the 2015/16 academic year for many moons, and now have all our books chosen, scheduled, and (mostly) bought. We mainly follow Ambleside Online and my oldest daughter will be doing Year 8 this year. Two years ago, we began our study of world history with the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans; last year we delved into the middle ages, and now Eldest Daughter (and two of her younger siblings) will be exploring the tumultuous years of 1400s - 1600s - the time of European Renaissance and Reformation. As always, I'm excited about the books we'll be reading this year (I mean, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be using them!) and would like to share them with you, along with a little bit about why each was chosen. I'm even MORE excited about the public-domain primary-source documents that Ambleside has included in their YEAR 8 schedule. I can still hear one of my college professors waxing on about how significant primary source documents are, and how important it is to base any real research on them, and I am so glad the AO advisory took the time to dig up and include them in middle and high school history studies. I'll probably not go into them too much here, so be sure to check them out in the Year 8 link above.

The New World - Churchill 
This will be our main text, or spine, for this year. This book is the second volume in Churchill's four volume set, A History of the English Speaking People. We read the first volume this year, and even though my daughter found it a little dry, I feel that it's well done and important enough to stick with. So to help it go down a little easier, and to round out our studies, I am also assigning

The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation - H.A. Guerber and Christine Miller
 I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I love Guerber's writing. LOVE. And if I had an infinite amount of time and a lot more money, then I would buy her Story of the English and the Story of Old France, and pick and chose my favorite chapters to assign, throwing in a few from Marshall's A History of Germany (which I DO own). But really, what would be the point, when Christine Miller has done it all already, and thrown some helpful maps in, in the bargain? My daughter and I are really looking forward to this book.


The Voyage of the Armada - Howarth
The first of three non-fiction titles we will be reading during the year, these are not boring textbooks! this one recounts one of the seminal events of this period in history - from the Spanish point of view. I was hooked after the first few pages. 

Homes in the Wilderness - Margaret Wise Brown
Yes, THE Wise Brown of Good Night, Moon fame! It was a little surprising to see her name as editor of this collection of pilgrim journals from William Bradford and others, but this important document was only helped by Brown's updated spelling and Mary Wilson Stewart's simple illustrations. 

A Coffin for King Charles - Wedgewood

I've not read this book yet, but it is said to be a well researched account of one of the most shocking events in English history - the trial and execution of King Charles I, written in magnificent prose.

You can learn a lot of history through the well told story of one person's life. To this end, we will also be reading these biographies this year:

A Man for All Seasons - Bolt
A two act play about the Lord Chancellor who refused to compromise and was executed by Henry VIII.
                Utopia - After reading ABOUT Sir Thomas More, we'll also be reading this classic work          BY him, which, though not strictly a book of history, nonetheless had historical value. 
 
The Life of John Donne - Izaak Walton


Please note, the above link is NOT to an Amazon book listing, but to an online text from Project Canterbury, a "free online archive of out-of-print Anglican texts and related modern documents."
This short selection has the distinction of being written a contemporary of Donne's, and includes excerpts from many letters written by the latter.



Galileo's Daughter - Sobel 
I read this years ago, and while it was occasionally a bit slow, for the most part it is a fascinating look at the Medici's Florence and the mythic "father of modern science," through correspondence with his daughter, the nun Maria Celeste.

Did you notice that I didn't mention a few of the books pictured? We'll get to literature (including poetry!) and free reads in my next post.



And once again, please remember that I am NOT an affiliate with Amazon or anyone else. Any links provided are simply for reader ease, I currently receive no compensation for keeping any part of this blog. :)



 

The Middle Ages for middle school

Once again I have three drafts open on my desktop, yet here I am starting a new post. Anyone who is a writer knows: some stories fight you, and some beg to be written. But I'm not telling stories here, I'm telling you *about* stories. Specifically, medieval stories, since that's where we've been in our history cycle for oh, the last 15 weeks or so (Eep!) I wanted to share our books with you way back then, but I was preparing up until (and past!) the last minute, and we just jumped in full steam ahead. Now that it's Christmas break, I have a little breathing room, so without further ado, here are some of the books my 12 year old 7th grader is reading this year, as we delve into the Middle Ages and study the geography of Europe.

Oh, and you should know that I base our lessons largely on Ambleside Online's curriculum, which you can (and should!) check out by clicking on the link above. However, I make several modifications and changes to suit our family's needs and interests.

My daughter's main history texts this year (or "spines) are:

Winston Churchill's The Birth of Britain
   - Truthfully, she finds it a little dull, but we are sticking with it. It is the first volume of Churchill's History of the English Speaking People, a four volume set.

The Story of Europe by H.E. Marshall 
  - Some people love Marshall's writing. I don't think it is spectacular, but again, this book meets a need, and does it in the simple, storytelling way that we like. I like that dates of important events are in the margins and footnotes, so as not to interrupt the narrative, and that it does not focus solely on Great Britain, like so many other books covering the same time period.




The Story of the English, vol 1
   - I DO love Helene Guerber's writing, and after enjoying her Story of the Greeks and Story of the Romans last year, my daughter begged me to include this books this year. Many of the stories will be ones she had also read elsewhere, but since she wanted to read it, I did not object.

For biographies, I chose:

King Alfred the Great by Jacob Abbott
   - I cannot understand why this book is no longer in print, but it is worth reading about one of the most famous kings in British history. This book is also sometimes called King Alfred of England.

 The Magna Carta by James Daughtery
  - Part biography of King John, part biography of the document itself, I read this book a few years ago, and enjoyed it while also learning a few things. Win.







Saint Joan: The Girl Soldier
  - Another option might be Landmark Books' Joan of Arc. Both of these could be considered rather easy reads for a middle schooler, but not everything has to be Shakespeare. And they are well done besides.

I would have loved to have my daughter read George Makepeace Towle's telling of Marco Polo: His Travels and Adventures too, but there just wasn't room this year. I solved this problem by deciding to read it aloud to my elementary schoolers, while she listens in :D I love homeschooling! If your student is a male, he may prefer reading this story over Joan of Arc's.

And, because I cannot keep my daughter in books, I like to add a few historical fiction titles to her plans. Historical fiction is my all time favorite way to learn history. This year she is enjoying:

 A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver 
  - I thought this book was so much fun - interesting, and informative and clever - much like Eleanor of Aquitaine herself.  A great picture of a dynamic woman who barely got a mention in Churchill's history.






In Freedom's Cause by G.A. Henty
- I could do a whole post on Henty, who was a prolific writer of boys historical adventure stories in the late 19th/early 20th century, but I won't today. This story of Scotland's William Wallace and Robert the Bruce is perfect for my sensitive daughter, who is not quite ready for Braveheart yet.

Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
  - This was an Ambleside suggestion  that I wasn't sure about, since it is an adult book, not one written for kids. So I pre-read and found it fascinating. It's a really engaging look at what we think we *know* and what sources we get our history from. There was maybe a time or two of innuendo, but it was so slight that I'm pretty sure it will go right over my daughter's head. In any event, it in no way detracted from the story, and if I hadn't been looking for it, I might have missed it too.

So, aside from a few primary source texts, this is the whole of my daughter's history curriculum for the year. What do you think? Anything you've read and loved? Read and hated?  Think I should have added something? Or left something out? Let me know in the comments!