Lesson plan Chivalry

► Chivalry
Introduce values of Chivalry
Values associated with a knight. Draw a knight, and then write six values aside it:
- Piety (piété), devotion to God and religion,
- Honour (honneur), acting justly in such a way to protect his social standing,
- Valour (bravoure, courage), especially defending a noble cause,
- Courtesy (courtoisie), being polite, good conversation and considering others socially,
- Chastity (chasteté), obeying the sexual laws of society, not necessarily celibate,
- Loyalty (loyauté), allegiance to ones friends/country/noblemen.

Could you be a knight?
Give examples of when you have demonstrated above values with your partner.

Watch A Knight’s Tale clip (part one) on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9ClNeGCVPs.
Which values were shown in the film extract? When?

Watch in French on
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6wnxv_a-knight-s-tale-partie-1-vf_shortfilms.
Answer questions on sheet "Chivalry test".


►King Arthur on http://expositions.bnf.fr/arthur/
One knight in particular.
In the V/VI centuries, he fought for Britons against saxon invaders.
He formed a group of knights at a the Round table at Camelot, associated with magic because of his raising by Merlin.
Bravest knight was called Lancelot, the figure of Chivalry and knightly values. Most of what we know about him come from legends or stories.

Get students to work on different story extracts I have printed in groups of three:
- one person must read it out,
- another must summarize and
- the last explains whitch knightly value it shows.

Feedback and share.

►Modern day
Churchill, in The Island race, found 20th century comparison with Chivalric protection against Germanic/Saxon tyranny.
Do Chivalric values still hold?
How do they live up to the knightly code of “protect the weak, defenceless and helpless and fight for the general welfare of all”: a politician? (context of French elections, Hollande vs Sarkozy). A policeman? A football player?

Write one page of a “modern knight”, using imagination!
Begin with a physical description (4/5 lines): clothes, size, etc.
Introduce another character or two.
Show how his actions are chivalric.

►EXTRA Word search.

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