I. Intro. Edward I

1. Read and listen to the text and take notes.

Britain in the Late Middle Ages from 1272 to 1529

(1)This period was marked by war, civil strife, plague, and economic crisis. (2) England and Scotland fought bloody wars that preserved Scotland’s identity but caused many deaths. Both suffered the Black Death, while England endured peasant and aristocratic uprisings, and Scotland saw two kings murdered. (3) Yet the era also brought Renaissance culture and the invention of the printing press.

The Reign of Edward I 

(4) Of the House of Plantagenet, Edward I was England’s most capable ruler since William the Conqueror, reigning from 1272 to 1307. (5) He was known as a skilled general, organizer, and a farsighted statesman. His English name reflected rising national identity. (6) Constantly in need of money, he used parliaments to secure taxes. (7) Attendance was at royal discretion, though major lords were always included. (8) Sometimes representatives of knights and burgesses—the commons—were summoned, but they were not yet essential.

(9) Parliaments mainly raised taxes and heard grievances. (10) They acted like a high court, where petitions and disputes were addressed, and were protected as sacrosanct institutions.

(11) Edward also targeted England’s Jews. (12) In 1290 he expelled them, the first such action in medieval Europe, forcing them into exile until the 17th century. (13) Their departure pushed the crown toward Italian bankers, especially in Lombard Street, which became the center of English finance.

 

2. Find in the text above synonyms for the following words

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the text.

kept / maintained
rebellions
creation
competent leader
governing
visionary politician
showed
increasing
collect taxes
by royal choice
called
collected taxes
listened to complaints
conflicts settled
banished

 

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3. Prepare Answers to these Comprehension Questions (Use at least 1 idiom in your answer)

1. 1. What major challenges did England and Scotland face in the late Middle Ages, and how did these shape their identities?

   Choose an idiom: — Select an idiom —to be through the wars — to suffer greatly (wars, plague, uprisings)a baptism of fire — a harsh introduction (the Black Death, turmoil)to stand one’s ground — to resist and defend identity (Scotland)

2. 2. What role did parliaments play under Edward I, and how were representatives chosen?

   Choose an idiom: — Select an idiom —to call the shots — to control decisions (king decided who attended parliament)to toe the line — to obey authority (nobles complied with the crown)to give someone a voice — to allow participation (commons invited occasionally)

3. 3. Why did the English crown turn to Italian bankers, particularly those in Lombard Street?

   Choose an idiom: — Select an idiom —money makes the world go round — finance drives politics and survivalto put all one’s eggs in one basket — to rely on one source (Jews), then shiftto follow the money — to seek funding where it is available (Italian bankers)

4. Read the following text and try to explain the grammar behind the expressions highlighted. Find in the text other examples of these grammar rules, if any, and make up your own sentences with them.

The Anglo-Scottish Wars

1. Edward’s conquest of Wales was only the start of his expansionist policy.
2. After the death of Alexander III of Scotland (1241–86), his granddaughter Margaret of Norway was named heir, but she died in 1290, ending the Canmore dynasty.
3. With no clear successor, rival nobles claimed the throne, and Edward I was asked to arbitrate.
4. He chose John Balliol, who in 1291 swore fealty to Edward as overlord of Scotland.
5. Edward, however, treated Balliol as a vassal, even demanding Scottish troops for his wars in France.
6. Resentful nobles revolted, allied with France, and Balliol renounced his homage in 1296.
7. Edward invaded, forced Balliol into exile, and carried off the Stone of Destiny, but soon found Scotland difficult to control.
8. Harsh English rule provoked uprisings, notably those of William Wallace and Andrew Moray, who won at Stirling in 1297 before being crushed at Falkirk in 1298.
9. Wallace was later captured and brutally executed, becoming a Scottish martyr.
10. In 1306 Robert the Bruce rebelled, killing his rival Comyn and claiming the crown.
11. After Edward I’s death in 1307, Bruce gradually secured power, defeating the English decisively at Bannockburn in 1314.
12. The Declaration of Arbroath (1320) asserted Scottish independence, declaring freedom more precious than life itself.
13. Peace came with the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1328, when England recognized Scotland as a separate kingdom.
14. Bruce died the following year, succeeded by his son David II.

5. Gap-Filling Exercise (Index 2)

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the text.

• быть назначенным наследником = to heir
• арбитрировать / выступать арбитром = to
• присягнуть на верность = to fealty to
• недовольный, возмущённый =
• союзничать с = to with
• отречься от своей присяги = to one’s
• изгнание =
• утверждать, заявлять = to
• быть преемником = to

 

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6. Read the rule and translate the sentences below into English.  

Click to show/hide the rule

Zero Article Practice. Translate into English: 

1. Я назначаю тебя наследником. →
2. Ты был избран лидером восстания. →
3. Я сделаю тебя арбитром в этом споре. →
4. Ты стал мучеником для своего народа. →
5. Я провозглашаю тебя королём Шотландии. →

 

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7. I pairs act out the following dialogues. Use as much of the provided active words and grammar as possible

The Black Death & Refusal to Pay Tax — Active words & grammar

Parliament & Noble Discontent — Active words & grammar

Wallace & English Soldier — Active words & grammar

Robert the Bruce & Papal Envoy — Active words & grammar

Treaty of Edinburgh Negotiation — Active words & grammar

8.1. In some olympiads [Eurasian, ВОШ, etc.] you can be asked to write an interview with a historic person or book/movie character. Spanning aroud 250 words. In the model of such an interview fill in the gaps with the write words.

Перетащите слова из банка в пропуски. Некоторые слова не используются.

 

 

 

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8.2. One of the criteria in Olympiad creative writing is the writer’s creative approach. Suggest ways in which the dialogue could be extended or rewritten to create an unexpected twist or heighten suspense.

Analyse this table of creativity raising ploys:

Ploy	Work (Author, Year)	Real Excerpt	Suspense Effect
Unreliable narrator	The Tell-Tale Heart — Edgar Allan Poe (1843)	“True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”	Denial of madness heightens doubt; reader questions every “fact.”
Frame story	Frankenstein — Mary Shelley (1818)	“You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.”	Letters frame a confession; layered voices foreshadow hidden horrors.
Shifting point of view	The Moonstone — Wilkie Collins (1868)	“Here follows the first part of the narrative written by Gabriel Betteredge, house-steward in the service of Julia, Lady Verinder.”	Multiple narrators contradict; truth emerges through competing accounts.
Red herring / misleading foreshadow	The Hound of the Baskervilles — Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)	“The appearance was, you will admit, remarkable.”	Hints of the “supernatural” misdirect toward rational, human crime.
Climactic reversal (peripeteia)	Oedipus Rex — Sophocles (c. 429 BCE)	“I stand revealed at last—cursed in my birth, cursed in marriage, cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands.”	Self-revelation inverts the hero’s quest; horror peaks instantly.
Confinement / ticking clock	And Then There Were None — Agatha Christie (1939)	“The sea was as a sheet of glass. The house was empty.”	Isolation on an island + dwindling survivors = escalating dread.
Mundane turned sinister	“The Lottery” — Shirley Jackson (1948)	“The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day…”	Pastoral normalcy curdles into ritual violence; shock by contrast.
Dream / reality blur	“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” — Ambrose Bierce (1890)	“His body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge.”	Last-second reveal recasts the “escape” as an execution fantasy.
Symbolic doubling	The Double — Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1846)	“Another person… exactly like himself!”	Doppelgänger embodies fractured identity; paranoia and self-undoing.
Moral dilemma	Sophie’s Choice — William Styron (1979)	“You may keep one of your children.”	Impossible choice generates unbearable, slow-burn moral suspense.

In class ask me to suggest you a way to expand the above interview in  such a way as to gain the highest score on creativity. A blend of what suspense-building ploys is it?

8.3. [Высшая проба] In the name of a farmer living in England in the late middle ages write a story about hoe the Black Death changed your life.

Attention! Remember to describe characters in your story, use direct speech at least once and show  how the characters changed over time, as well to narrate about your life prior the Roman conquest, your life during the conquest and your life after it. Write 250 words +- 10% 

 

Tip: Always include character description, direct speech, idioms and proverbs even if it is not mentioned in the task in the olympiad!

 

Here are ways to introduce character description into your story: 

Look through the lesson and try to use as many new words from it as possible!

To make sure your syntax in direct speech in your story is correct, watch my video about it. And give your thumbs-up👍):

Assessment and Scoring criteria in Higher Probe

9. Match the titles of literary works with their summaries.

 

1. Written in mid-14th century Florence, this collection frames one hundred stories told by ten nobles who fled the plague. It mixes tragic, comic, and moral tales, showing how people coped with fear and loss while entertaining one another.     
2. Composed in late 14th-century England, this allegorical poem follows a humble labourer through visions of society, salvation, and corruption. It reflects the unrest and labour tensions left by the Black Death.     
3. Written around 1387–1400, this English frame narrative gathers pilgrims on their way to this city located in the shire of Kent. Through their tales, the writer portrays a society reshaped by plague, social mobility, and clerical criticism.     
4. First published in 1866 in Russia, this psychological novel portrays poverty in St. Petersburg and a student who murders a pawnbroker. It explores guilt, redemption, and the crushing effects of destitution.     
5. Written in 1840, this Russian novel presents the fragmented adventures of Pechorin, a young officer stationed in the Caucasus. Through a series of encounters—love affairs, duels, travels, and betrayals—the narrative reveals the restless spirit of a man unable to find meaning in life. The author portrays Pechorin as one of literature’s first “superfluous men”: intelligent and perceptive, yet deeply cynical and destructive to himself and others. The Caucasian setting highlights contrasts of freedom, fatalism, and cultural conflict. The novel, blending romanticism with realism, offers a psychological portrait of alienation in early 19th-century Russia.     
6. Published in 1722, though set during London’s plague of 1665, this work blends fact and fiction in diary form. It documents fear, quarantine, and the struggle of ordinary citizens.     
7. Released in 1827, this Italian historical novel dramatizes plague in Milan during the 1630s. Two lovers are thwarted by war, famine, and pestilence, yet hope endures.     
8. Written in 1842, this Gothic allegory shows nobles retreating from plague to a castle, only to be struck down by a spectral figure of death. It symbolises inevitability.     
9. Published in 1947, this French novel stages a plague outbreak in Oran, Algeria. Characters embody moral choices—solidarity, denial, faith—in an allegory of human resilience and resistance.     
10. Released in 1985, this Colombian novel intertwines love and epidemic. It explores passion, fidelity, and endurance in a Caribbean town afflicted by cholera.     

 

 

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Tick the literary works that can be considered related to the Black Death directly or based on the immediate social consequences

Select the works that relate to plague epidemics (the Black Death or later plague outbreaks). Check ALL that apply.

 

 

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