So that they could have some sympathy for their parents during home learning, Year 7 students got to practise Medieval ‘Trial by Ordeal’ and they provided us with a snapshot of what they got up to.
Charlotte Jones said: “Trial by ordeal was a medieval method of finding if someone was guilty or innocent after committing a crime. It was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church as people believe that God would heal you or numb the pain of the trials to prove you were not guilty. A few of the most common trials included Trial by Hot Iron, Trial by Hot Water, Trial by Cold Water and Trial by Consecrated Bread.”
Molly Stainforth added: “Trial by hot iron was done by Declan. He was holding a boiling hot (cold) piece of iron (a red piece of wood) and had to hold it for three steps and see if it was healed in three days (three minutes). Josh then bandaged his hand and when he unwrapped him he was healed !
Elliot Ball described how: “Charlotte had to put her hand in boiling water (well actually it was cold water with vinegar and sodium hydrogen carbonate) and find Mr Baker’s wedding ring. Chloe (the Bishop) bandaged her hand and after three days take off the bandage and had no blisters. This meant she was innocent.
Finally, Eryn Moore outlined how with consecrated bread: “Casey handed Matthew a bag of broken up crackers and Matthew had to eat a bit and try not to choke. If he did so he’d be sent out of the church for he’d be guilty. It didn’t end well for Matthew !”
Luke Baker, History teacher and Assistant Headteacher, said: “There is a lot of fun to be had with medieval history and it became apparent that many of these ordeals could be included in our new behaviour management policy.”
