Lesson video

Hello.

My name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about Britain after the Romans.

And we're going to explore the question, how did Christianity survive in the British Isles? So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how the monasteries of Ireland grew in importance.

Before we start, I'd like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write those down.

The keywords we'll be using today are monastery, patronage, monk.

I'm going to say those again and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Monastery.

Patronage.

Monk.

Good job.

Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Let's take a look at each of their definitions.

A monastery is a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows.

Patronage is the support given by a person to another person, organisation, or cause, usually involving money.

A monk is a member of a community of men living under religious vows.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Monasteries in Ireland.

How did the monasteries become important? In the first learning cycle, we'll explore monasteries in Ireland.

By the early 6th century, monasteries were built across Ireland.

The first monasteries were usually built in isolated places like Glendalough in County Wicklow, or on islands such as Skellig Michael off the coast of County Kerry.

You can have a look at that photo of the island Skellig Michael.

Can you imagine building a monastery on that island? A beautiful place, but I'm sure it was tricky to build there.

The monks chose these isolated places because it allowed them to pray and work without distraction.

A monk is a member of a community of men living under religious vows.

In these early monasteries, monks lived in small bedrooms called cells.

One of the first monks was St.

Enda who set up a monastery in Aran Islands.

St.

Brigid also founded a number of monasteries.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why did the monks choose isolated places to build the monasteries? The weather was better.

They wanted to pray and work without distraction.

It was easier to build there.

Pause the video here and take a moment to think.

Press play when you are ready to hear the answer.

What did you think? If you said they wanted to pray and work without distraction, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

At first, the monasteries were places for Christians to visit and dedicate their lives to God.

However, they soon became centres of learning and culture.

Each day, monks would spend time praying and fasting, studying the Bible, copying manuscripts, and welcoming visitors.

You can see a photo there of a monk statue, so it shows you what they would've wore, what they would've maybe looked like.

Some monks spent their lives making beautiful copies of the Bible.

The Book of Kells, written in the 9th century, is a famous example of this.

It was named after a town called Kells in County Meath, where it was once kept.

This book can now be seen in Trinity College, Dublin.

Another famous book, which was written by monks in Ireland, is the Book of Durrow.

Have a look there at that photo of the Book of Kells.

Can you see how intricately decorated it is? It's very beautiful, very bright.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which of these did not happen at the monasteries? Studying the Bible.

Copying manuscripts.

Baking cakes.

Praying.

Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that baking cakes is the thing that did not happen at the monasteries, you are absolutely right.

This brings us to our first learning task.

Describe where the monasteries were built and what happened inside them to your learning partner.

You could use these words to help you.

Isolated.

Distraction.

Prayed.

Studied.

Bible.

Monks.

So pause the video here to give yourself enough time to describe where the monasteries were built and what happened inside them to your learning partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Shall we take a look at an example? So your answer could include, the monasteries were built in isolated places such as the island Skellig Michael.

They were built in those places so the monks could pray without distraction.

At the monasteries, people prayed, studied the Bible, and copied manuscripts.

Well done for completing that learning task.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to explore the question, how did the monasteries become important? As Christianity became more popular throughout Ireland, the monasteries attracted the patronage of powerful people.

This means that many kings and rich important people supported the monasteries and gave them money.

This meant the monasteries grew in both size and importance.

Take a look there at that photo of the remains of Clonmacnoise monastery.

It's one of the largest in Ireland.

And some monasteries were built near the forts of important kings like the monastery of Clonard in County Meath.

The largest monasteries, such as Clonmacnoise and Glendalough, were built along important travel routes in Ireland.

Clonmacnoise, for example, is located in County Offaly on the bend of the River Shannon.

This river would've been very important for travel in Ireland at the time.

You can see the photo of the remains there of Glendalough monastery.

It's in a very beautiful place and you can see how the river is very close by, so connecting it to really important routes.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Sam has made a statement about patronage.

Is she correct? The kings and the rich offered their support to the monasteries.

Hmm.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Is Sam's statement about patronage correct? And press play when you're ready to continue.

How did your discussion go? Well, Sam is correct.

Patronage means the support given by a person to an organisation or cause, usually involving money.

So the kings and the rich did offer their support to monasteries in this way.

The monasteries were given money and valuable gifts from the kings and the rich as part of their patronage.

Now, with this wealth, the monks were often able to put valuable covers on their books and manuscripts.

Book covers were often made of metal and decorated with valuables such as jewels.

Take a look there at that photo of a page from the Book of Durrow.

How intricately designed it is.

Now, the monks also paid silversmiths to make gold and silver chalices.

These are large cups, which are used to drink from during religious ceremonies.

An example is the Ardagh Chalice, which you can see in the National Museum in Dublin.

The Ardagh Chalice was made in the 8th century.

Now, the monasteries were not only important centres for learning and culture, but were also large and full of valuable objects which increased their importance.

You can see a photo there of the Ardagh Chalice that we spoke about.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

The monasteries of Ireland were full of valuable objects.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here and take a moment to think, and then press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? It's indeed true, so well done if you thought that.

Now, looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? They received money and gifts and also made valuable book covers from jewels.

They were filled with food for storage.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

Which of these two statements would help to justify your answer? And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said they received money and gifts and also made valuable book covers from jewels, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to write two sentences to describe how monasteries in Ireland grew in importance.

Think about what happened at the monasteries that helped them grow in importance, and what patronage is and how that helped the monasteries grow in importance.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time.

Make sure that you have a pen and some paper and write two sentences to describe how monasteries in Ireland grew in importance, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Shall we take a look at some examples? So your answers could include, monasteries became important centres of learning and culture, and monks created beautiful manuscripts there.

And the patronage from kings and rich people helped create larger monasteries and filled them with valuable objects, which increased their importance.

Well done if you were able to write two sentences to describe how those monasteries in Ireland grew in importance.

And good job, well done for completing this learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the growth of Irish monasteries.

We've certainly learned a lot.

By the early 6th century, monasteries were built across Ireland.

They were often built in isolated places like Skellig Michael.

At first, the monasteries were places for Christians to dedicate their lives to God.

However, they soon became centres of learning and culture.

Many monasteries attracted the patronage of kings and rich people and grew in both size and importance.

With this wealth, the monks produced beautiful manuscripts like the Book of Kells.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope you enjoyed it.

I hope to see you in the next lesson.

See you next time.