Ian Dawson has introduced Yorkclio to the Paston letters. We have been discussing ways to enable students to engage with the people of the Middle Ages as real people. Ian explained who the Pastons were and used key extracts of letters to present them in their world. A world both strangely familiar (with its tenderness, care and need for sound sense and organiation), as well as being deeply unfamiliar (none of us have stashed weapons to fight the neighbours!). Attached are some materials that Ian used with the Historical Association’s Teaching Fellowship participants earlier in 2016. They will introduce you to a little of the Paston’s 15th century world.
Doc 2. DNB Pastons Paston Letters review HATF 2. Core doc Paston Letters
One thought on “Using the Paston letters in class”