Alabama Social Studies SS24.8.8c
The Standard
- SS24.8.8
- Analyze the social, political, and economic changes leading up to the Renaissance and Reformation in later medieval Europe and surrounding regions.
Describe the role of women in society and politics in medieval Europe, citing the contributions of significant women of the time.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students describe the work women did in medieval Europe and how rank shaped their choices. They explain how women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Hildegard of Bingen influenced politics or religious life.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can compare a peasant woman’s farm work with a noblewoman’s political duties. They can explain Eleanor’s work as regent and Hildegard’s letters to rulers, using a source detail to support each example.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume all medieval women lived like queens or that none had political influence. They may also mistake the power held by a few noblewomen for rights shared by all women.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: How did Eleanor of Aquitaine and Hildegard of Bingen each influence people beyond their households? Give one specific action for each woman.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Hand groups three cards: a peasant harvesting, Eleanor governing England, and Hildegard writing to rulers; sort them by work and political influence.
Ask, “Did rank or gender limit a medieval woman’s power more?” Have students use an Eleanor card and a peasant-work card as evidence.
Play match-up with cards naming Eleanor, Hildegard, and Christine de Pizan, plus cards describing a regency, letters to rulers, and writing about women.
Compare a student council decision with Eleanor’s regency; have students write who held authority, whose interests they represented, and who was left out.
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Printable SS24.8.8c Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS24.8.7b
Analyze the relationship of the Catholic Church to economic, political, and social systems and rulers in medieval Europe.
- SS24.US1.7a
Summarize the contributions of women reformers in the early to mid-nineteenth century who sought to expand political and educational opportunities for women.
- SS24.8.7
Outline the social, cultural, economic, and religious developments of early medieval Europe.
- SS24.8.7c
Explain the significant economic, political, and social aspects of European feudalism.
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