How certain are we that Richard III murdered the Princes in the Tower? isn’t just a source analysis task.
Going straight into sources doesn’t give students the best chance of developing their interest in the topic or understanding the events that occurred in the run up to the disappearance of the Princes. Therefore the first stage of this activity is story-telling , using the room as a map to help students see how events unfolded in the spring and early summer of 1483 up to Richard’s accession.
Once that story has been told we can move onto the fate of the Princes, exploring how certain we can be that Richard was responsible for their deaths. Hopefully this will give KS3 pupils a chance to gain experience in handling degrees of certainty and developing the vocabulary they need when discussing such issues – and hopefully they’ll enjoy the sense of mystery but also that these events are not just a ‘Cadfael’-style medieval mystery but real events involving real individuals, something that I hope is established by the first story-telling stage.
Plus a recommendation for some great music – what more can you ask?
Music from the Time of Richard III by the York Waits
Ian