Peasants and Monarch Simulation

Written by Alexander H. and Blake M.

Nowadays, everyone wants us to “treat others the way we want to be treated,” which is what we should be doing, but it wasn’t always like that. In Europe in the 1500’s, it was a very unfair and dirty life for the peasants while the King or Queen, the nobles, and the church had a lot of things.

This activity was about experiencing how unfair life was like in Europe in the 1500’s.

By doing this activity, it helped us understand what the peasants' life was like in the 1500’s. We learned that it was very, very unfair. Not all of us liked this activity, in fact, most of us didn’t. Everyone who was a peasant was very mad that the “queen” and the “noble” got to have fun and do whatever they wanted.

• “It was terrible activity. It was the worst activity in the world, and I never want to do it AGAIN!” - Alex M.

• “I hated it.” - Iliana

• “I liked nothing about this activity because everything was unfair. I was very happy when it was over.” - Aaron

• “I know that I didn’t like this activity because it was super unfair for the peasants, but I’m sure the 'queen' loved it because she was spoiled." - Sophia

In most students' opinion, it was not fun but other people's opinion was different because their experiences were different.

• “I think that being a peasant was horrible, even though I was just a peasant for five minutes. When I was a knight, it was much more luxurious. I got to eat candy and play videogames, but I still respected the peasants.” - Leo

• “It was fun because I got to play on the iPads, eat candy, and listen to music.” - Bailey (a noble)

So even though many people thought this activity was unfair, the peasants and monarch activity was a powerful way to learn about what life was like in Europe in the 1500’s.

Gabi called the activity, "Terrible. Unfair. Unforgiving." But she went on to say, “I learned how bad life was back then if you were a peasant.”