Siege Warfare

CONCEPTUAL

History›Medieval Times|Ages 7—9|ID: mt_CqzsM0BDFP

How castles were attacked and defended: siege weapons (trebuchets, battering rams, siege towers), boiling liquids, arrow slits, murder holes; the drama of a medieval siege

Mastery Evidence

Name at least three siege weapons or attack methods
Describe at least two ways a castle was designed to resist attack
Explain what a siege was and why it could last weeks or months

Assessment Prompt

“If [child] was reading about a medieval siege, could they explain the weapons used to attack a castle and the clever ways defenders fought back?”

Prerequisites2

Castle Design Through the Ages
hardAges 7—9
Knights & Armour
softAges 5—7

Show full prerequisite tree

Castle Design Through the Ages hard
Must understand castle structure before studying how castles were attacked and defended
- Battle of Hastings and 1066 soft
  Norman Conquest triggered major castle-building programme in England
  - Kings & Queens soft
    Understanding kingship helps grasp the succession crisis of 1066
    - Knights & Armour soft
      Knights served kings — understanding knights helps grasp royal power
      - What Is a Castle? hard
        Castles provide the physical context for understanding knights who lived and served in them
    - What Is a Castle? hard
      Castles as royal residences provide context for understanding kings and queens
  - Vikings vs Anglo-Saxons hard
    Must understand Viking-Saxon struggle and Edward the Confessor before studying 1066
    - Anglo-Saxon Britain hard
      Must understand Anglo-Saxon kingdoms before studying the Viking-Saxon conflict
      - Village Life soft
        Village life concepts provide context for Anglo-Saxon settlement
        
        What Is a Castle? soft
        Castle knowledge provides contrast with village life
      - The Vikings soft
        Viking knowledge provides contrast and context for Anglo-Saxon Britain
    - The Vikings hard
      Must know who the Vikings were before studying their conflict with Anglo-Saxons
  - Evidence from the Past soft
    Cross-domain: understanding historical evidence (Historical Thinking) enriches use of Bayeux Tapestry as source
    - Thinking Before Starting soft
      Understanding that knowledge of the past comes from surviving evidence builds on the habit of activating prior knowledge — what do I already know, and where did that knowledge come from?
      - Persisting When It's Hard hard
        Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
    - Vocabulary: historical thinking hard
      Understanding that everything we know comes from evidence requires 'evidence' and 'source' vocabulary
      - Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas soft
        Acquiring the specialist vocabulary of historical thinking (source, bias, chronology, corroborate) builds on the academic vocabulary development taught in English
        
        Discussing and Questioning New Words hard
        Academic and domain-specific vocabulary acquisition builds on the habit of discussing word meanings and linking new vocabulary to known words
        
        Defining Words soft
        Defining academic words requires the ability to define words by category and attribute
        
        Discussing and Questioning New Words soft
        Context clues support defining words
        
        Sorting & Categorising Words hard
        Defining by attributes builds on Y1 categorisation and antonyms
        
        How Many in Total? soft
        Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- What Is a Castle? hard
  Must have basic castle knowledge before studying castle evolution and architecture
Knights & Armour soft
Knights fought in sieges — armour knowledge enriches siege understanding
- What Is a Castle? hard
  Castles provide the physical context for understanding knights who lived and served in them

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